


Give It A Chance

by DemonsWish



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha Steve Rogers, Alpha Tony Stark, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angest yup I made angst, Anxiety, Beta Bruce Banner, Beta Clint Barton, Beta Natasha Romanov, Flashbacks, Fluff, I'm Bad At Tagging, Learning to trust, Multi, Omega OFC, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Polyamory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, So Many Anxious Thoughts, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Trauma, Unguided Omega Drops, Unknown Suppressant Usage, angst maybe?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:27:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 64,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23942311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonsWish/pseuds/DemonsWish
Summary: Mercedes (A.K.A Mercy) Wessex is a mutant born with super speed, strength, and a higher than average healing ability. Born to a small pack of mutants who are wanted by S.H.I.E.L.D for supposedly helping HYDRA, and wanted by HYDRA for possibly helping SHIELD. Mercy lives her life relatively secluded. Her family’s reputation follows her no matter where she goes and some of her own. So a life of quiet hiding is what she has become used to; even the prospect of meeting her soulmates was something she never expected to happen. If the red white and blue star on her left wrist was any indication of who they were, she definitely was never going to meet them.One day Mercy’s world is turned upside down as her want to clear her family's name one small act at a time forces her to be wrenched out of her quiet boring lifestyle. With her heroic act caught on camera, all eyes were suddenly on her, if only for a short time, and where there are eyes there are Avengers.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Original Female Character(s), Clint Barton/Original Female Character(s), James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s), Natasha Romanov/Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers/Original Female Character(s), Tony Stark/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 74
Kudos: 303





	1. Smile, Your On Camera

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Avenger's Mate](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15541059) by [Superheroes101](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Superheroes101/pseuds/Superheroes101). 
  * Inspired by [Theirs](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21435577) by [Iloveyou0418](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iloveyou0418/pseuds/Iloveyou0418). 



> Hello and welcome to my second ever fanfic!  
> This story is something that is really out of my comfort zone to write. I don't normally have so many characters to deal with and 90% of them are canon characters which are even more out of my comfort zone.  
> But I absolutely had to write this because I have been so inspired by two other great works that you should go read if you haven't already. Like ignore this catastrophe and go over there.  
> Anyways, please be gentle with me as I do my best to portray our favorite MCU characters in this fic. I am going to do my damndest to do them justice while I also tinker with their personalities just a little to fit my AU just a bit better.

**Monday, 9:18pm**

Tony fidgeted with the starkpad in his hands as the elevator quickly went up the floors. He watched over the rim of his sunglasses as each floor number chimed as they approached. This thing wasn’t fast enough, he’d have to amend that later. When it finally reached the pack floor the billionaire barely waited for the doors to be open enough for him to get out before rushing to the main room. 

He surveyed the room, this was important information but he didn’t want to share it if the whole pack wasn’t present. Clint and Bruce sat on the floor, controllers in hand as they valiantly fought against each other in Mortal Kombat. Steve, Bucky, and Nat all sat on the couch behind them. Nat comfortably cuddled into Bucky with her legs draped over Steves's thighs, which he was more than happy to massage.

“Jarvis pause the game.” Tony said abruptly. Earning a few irritated grumbles from the Beta’s who were perched on the floor.

“Hey! What’s that about, come on I was winning!” Clint protested with a huff, only to have his hair ruffled soothingly by Bruce.

“Yeah well, I’ve got a little bit more pressing matters than your fake fighting match.” Tony said before pulling something up something on his Starkpad and flicking it up onto the TV. On the screen, it showed a poorly shot angle of a burning apartment building, obviously taken by a bystander.

“Tony, there are many fires in New York how is--” Steve was cut off by Tony putting up his hand, effectively silencing the other Alpha respectfully.

“Just, watch.” Tony said before pressing play. There was loud screaming and cries that erupted from the TV. Firefighters pushed to get into the building as flaming rubble fell to the ground. The camera panned upwards, showing people a few stories up panicking and leaning out of the window. Of course, they had the emergency evacuation trampoline out, but in the background one of the firefighters could be heard whispering. ‘We’re not gonna get everyone out in time’.

It was only a few moments after that comment that a pale yellow streak flashed in front of the camera, shooting into the burning building before coming out seconds later. Each time the streak came out a new person was set down outside. As the camera panned upwards, one by one the people who were on the top floor were taken from the window and brought down to the outside. This happened twelve times. At the end, the yellow streak faded out and a woman with strawberry blonde hair stood tall as she set down a small child.

The woman knelt down, looking to the child as she seemed to ask a few questions before pointing out to the crowd. When the child pointed one way, the woman let go and ushered her to the unknown person. The person filming rushed forward once she no longer had anyone around her. ‘Lady, lady! How’d you do that! Are you with the Avengers?’ The man behind the camera asked curiously.

Silver eyes met the lense and her soft expression turned into fear as she realized she was being filmed. It was only a second later that the woman stood up, and once again became the pale yellow streak they all saw. The pack was quiet for a few moments, processing what they saw before Bucky spoke.

“So, do we have a mutant problem now? She didn’t seem like a threat to me. Am I missing something?” Bucky questioned softly, bringing his gaze to Steve’s in hopes the Alpha would have more information.

Tony let out an exasperated sigh. “FRIDAY enhance the woman’s face. Okay, now clear it up.” The AI responded immediately as it zoomed in on the strawberry blonde woman. Removing the offset pixels until there was nothing but a clear image of the fearful woman in front of them. Tony walked up to the TV before pointing to the woman’s neck. A black arrow sat an inch or so under her jaw, angled downward at forty-five degrees.

Everyone’s eyes went wide, and almost in unison everyone clapped their hand over the same exact spot. Except for Clint who shouted excitedly “That’s my mark!”

The billionaire let his eyes fall to everyone in the room before looking at Steve. “I found our Omega.”

Steve stood up from the couch, a look of bewilderment painted on his face as he approached the screen, studying the woman displayed. “Do you have a file on her? Where she lives, her name? We need to go get her.” Steve said resolutely.

“I do. But it’s not that simple Steve, we can’t just barge in and grab her like we want to.” Tony put up a hand to placate the head Alpha as his eyes turned to his in challenge. “Hey, that’s not what I meant. I want our Omega as much as the rest of you.”

“There’s a but in there somewhere.” Natasha chimed in, pushing to get off of Bucky so the now fidgeting Alpha could stand as well.

Tony took a deep steadying breath as he glanced between the two Super Soldier Alphas. “She’s a Wessex.”

**Earlier Monday evening, 5:32pm**

Mercy took a calming breath as she walked out of the library. It had been a normal eight-hour shift, so nothing abnormal but still. It could get quite stuffy in that building. She swore that the books themselves sucked the oxygen from the air, especially with how fragile a few of the more valuable pieces were.

She’d been doing this job for four years straight, ever since she left home when she was sixteen. She couldn’t take living there anymore. Everyone was always so paranoid, the atmosphere was tense at all times. Mercy missed how it used to be when she was little, how everyone laughed and played together, as a pack should. But that was in the past now, as she had run away in the middle of the night and never looked back. She didn’t know she ever  _ wanted _ to look back.

This had been her life now for the past few years. Waking up to go work at the library then going back home to die of boredom when the same shows aired. Occasionally she’d get a new episode of something or another on the TV, that always spiced up her day. Even though her life had been boring and irritatingly mundane since she left home, Mercy didn’t have a chance to make it any better. It was too dangerous for her to be out in broad daylight for long. If the right person saw her, her family would be put at risk and she couldn’t afford that. So here she was, walking down one of the quieter streets of New York with a light grey hoodie on even though it was a good seventy degrees out. 

With her life being basically the same the last few years, Mercy was not expecting to walk into a crowd of people huddled up on the street. Looking around her eyes widened as she saw the firefighters geared up, a few rushing into the apartment building that was blazing in front of her. While the others worked to get the hose up and running. Fearful screams filled her ears as she looked up. Men, women, and a few children hung out of the windows at the very top floor. Looking back down she could see the fire-fighters escorting people out 1-2 at a time

_ It's not my problem, _ Mercy reminded herself as she weaved through the crowd. Everyone moved to let the walking person through, allowing her to continue on her path without being disrupted. As she walked she felt like she could feel the terror oozing from the people inside the building.  _ Don’t get involved, the professionals have it.  _ She persuaded herself as she pushed her way out of the crowd. All she needed to do was focus on herself, those people would be fine.

“That building isn’t going to hold for much longer.” Whispered one of the firefighters.

“We need to get our men out. Try and evacuate the rest through the windows.” Another firefighter whispered that before stepping towards his colleagues.

That was the little push Mercedes needed in order to break out of her self-preservation. Stopping in her tracks she took a few moments to use the pony-tail on her wrist to put up her strawberry blonde hair after taking down her hood. Turning on her heels she looked up at the building. People weren’t going to die when she was around and able to help.

With that in mind, Mercy took a deep steadying breath and took off. It always felt odd to her when she allowed herself to tap into her speed. It felt like all of her atoms were humming with electricity, which they more than likely were. It didn’t help that adrenaline coursed through her either as she took her first step and she watched as everything passed her in slow motion. It was always such a rush to let herself use the powers she was given, not having to hide them and keep them hidden in her day to day things. People don’t know this, but having super speed is quite hard to keep suppressed. You always want to just launch yourself off of the balls of your feet and make everything go by faster. Like a perpetual adrenaline rush just waiting to be let out.

One by one Mercy took the tenants out from the top floor all the way down and outside. She had to admit, she felt a bit bad about not allowing them to adjust to the speed. But there was no time, if she was going to save people,  _ everyone _ was doing to be saved. That meant not giving people simple luxuries to acquaint themselves to her powers. It was worth it in the end though, as she set down the last person in the building, who happened to be a child. As she went to set her down, the little girl clung to her shirt, her eyes wide with fear.

“You’re alright. I’m sorry if I scared you. Are you hurt?” The little girl shook her head. “Good. Were you alone?” Another shake of the head. “Is your mommy or daddy here?” A nod. “Show them to me?” The little girl looked around at the people surrounding them before pointing out to a woman being held by a man. The woman in obvious distress. “Okay. Go to mommy okay? Make sure to make her feel better.” Mercy soothed before gently pushing the little girl towards the pair. It took only a moment for the child to sprint to the couple, screaming their names as tears gushed from her eyes.

What would have happened to her if she didn’t step in. When she went in there the ceilings were caving in and the walls were crumbling. The building really wasn’t going to stand much longer with the fire raging so hot inside. Before Mercy could stand back up, a young man approached her, a smartphone in his hands as he hurriedly went to her.

“Lady, lady! How’d you do that?” He asked inquisitively, drawing the eyes of the people around them. “You’re a part of the Avengers right? You have to be!” The man chimed excitedly. Completely ignoring the fact Mercy was petrified with fear as she looked at the iPhone in his hands. The way he held it in his hands, he was recording! He captured who knows how much of what happened. What was she going to do, she was exposed to the world right now. They all watched her run into the building with blinding speed, and in under two minutes rescued twelve people.

There was no more time to let herself dwell on the fact she was caught. In the next blink of an eye Mercy stood and bolted through the city. Ignoring the calls of concern and distress she heard before taking off. She wasn’t ignorant to the internet, even though she isolated herself she knew about how quickly videos could spread. Maybe she should have reached out and broken his phone, but that wouldn’t have gone over well if he decided to fight her for it. No, she could only do what she knew best, run and hide. She’d need to move again. more than likely, move as far away from New York as possible.

**Back to Present, Monday, 9:32pm**

After the initial shock of finding out their Omega was not only in the city but was the child of a pack wanted by SHIELD, the Avengers pack pulled themselves together to devise a plan.

“Legalos, we can’t just go to her address and be all friendly asking her to come live with us.” Tony protested hotly.

“Why not?” Clint grunted irritably.

“Because her parents and immediate family worked for HYDRA, they are wanted not only by SHIELD but by HYDRA themselves as well. Meaning there’s a huge X over the top of her head if we aren’t careful.” Natasha chimed in before leaning forward to put her crossed arms on the long kitchen table they were currently sitting at. 

“Well, that just gives us more reason to go and get her immediately. Who can protect her better than us?” Steve protested before glancing at Bucky, he’d done that frequently throughout this conversation. Shuri, Cho, and him had worked really hard to get Bucky through all the torture and trauma he’d been through with HYDRA, and their new mate might throw a wrench in that. Even if he desperately wanted her in the pack as much as the rest of them, Steve wanted to make sure it was under the healthiest conditions possible for his best friend and lover.

“If she’s being hunted down by HYDRA there’s not much we can do in that regard,” Bucky said, currently leaning back in the slightly uncomfortable wooden chair. “But, if she’s being hunted by SHIELD we can try and put a stop to that at least.” He stated before giving Steve a firm look that clearly stated ‘I’m fine’ before his gaze went to the now beaming Tony in front of him.

“We can call up Fury and stop the whole thing from start to finish from the SHIELD side of things!” The second in command Alpha chimed excitedly. Hastily reaching in his pocket to retrieve his phone and get that plan underway as soon as possible. That is until Bruce reached out and delicately placed his hand on his wrist, shaking his head.

“I don’t think we want to call him now Tony. It’s getting late and if we’re going to propose that he stop hunting down a HYDRA criminal’s child then we want him to be in the best mood we catch him in. I’m not sure about you guys but negotiating with us at this time of night wouldn’t make me very agreeable.” The beta said soothingly as his gaze scanned across the table. No one argued with him, not even Tony, because they all knew it was true. Fury could be fickle at times, the Alpha was loyal to his work and had a decent sense of right and wrong, but he was still the head of an antiterrorist group at the end of the day.

“It’s settled then,” Steve said resolutely as he crossed his arms and scooted his chair back slightly from the table. “Tomorrow we will contact Fury and go from there. For now everyone should take care of their nightly routine before we head to bed soon. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring us.” A chorus of groans was heard from the Beta’s (and maybe one of the other Alpha’s) everyone hated Steve’s enforced 10pm bedtime, but they understood it. A few missions ago the pack had suffered from severe sleep deprivation, spanning from 24-72 hours awake without a moment of sleep. Their head Alpha new missions couldn’t be controlled, but when his mates' sleeplessness bled into their time at home he put a stop to that right quick. Now no one was allowed out of the pack bedroom, or their own floor if they wished to have alone time, between the hours of 10pm and 5am. Tony had learned the hard way that this rule was being heavily enforced when one night he decided to fake sleep so that he could sneak out to do lab work at midnight. The next day the poor Alpha became acquainted with Bucky’s cane at the hands of Steve.

While the rule was irritating to all of them, they also adored their head Alpha for looking out for them. He always did what he thought was right for his mates, especially when it came to their mental and physical health. Besides, right now the rule wasn’t so bad because the faster they slept through the night the closer they all got to meeting their final mate. Not only was she their last mate but she was their Omega mate, meaning their pack could finally be complete. Everyone was excited to meet her, whether she would be difficult to handle, mentally wrecked, or stable, none of them cared. Because no matter what state she was in they would take her into the pack she belonged in and work to bring her back to a healthy state. Even the Beta’s seemed to buzz with excitement, and if they radiated it that meant it simply oozed off of their Alphas in waves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Any comments are welcome and I hope you stay with me while we navigate this story together!  
> Also, if any of you are currently reading my other fic, no, I have no abandoned it, don't worry little ones. I'm just finding it a tad difficult to carve my way through that one right now. But it has not been forgotten!


	2. Confrontation

**Tuesday, 7:43pm**

It had been one hell of a morning, and night, for Steve. His pack was absolutely bouncing off the walls with eagerness to meet their final mate. While he found it endearing he also saw the problems that were going to quickly arise with it. Like last night, Tony just about refused to go to sleep, and Nat and Bucky kept waking up every hour on the dot. Bucky would get up from the bed, making Bruce protest sleepily, before pacing the length of the room leisurely a few times. Until Steve got up and forced his Alpha lover into his normal sleeping spot before gathering the brooding red-headed Beta up in his arms and bringing her to bed as well. That happened until 1am, when Steve let out a powerful growl that made everyone, even the sleeping force of Bruce and Clint, shiver and stop to listen. With that, a final warning of punishment, that everyone settled down into bed properly.

As soon as 5am rolled around and FRIDAY lifted the blackout protocol’s Steve set in place, Tony had darted out of the bed, making Clint huff irritably as he was jostled around. The Alpha, understandably, wanted to contact Fury as soon as his eyes opened just so they could get this whole idea underway as quickly as possible. But he was quickly stopped when his Head Alpha walked out of the pack room a few minutes later, grumbled something tiredly about him being a brat, and plucked the phone from his hands. Ignoring the very childish whine he got in retaliation before pocketing it. Later Steve had to do the same thing with Clint, finding him around six trying to help Tony with his solo plan to talk to Fury. They were going to do this thing as a pack, not solo.

That’s why now he had an ever so slight headache he was trying to nurse with a hot cup of coffee Bruce had made for him. He hadn’t seen his pack this rambunctious and excited since the day that New York was invaded. After they dealt with Loki and went out for shawarma they noticed each other's marks, namely Clint’s since his wasn’t exactly easy to hide.

“Hey Bucky,” Natasha said softly across the table, the whole pack having been forced to sit down and eat together in an effort to calm everyone down. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? If you need time we can always wait a bit.” The Beta assured gently. Ever since they had learned who their Omega was everyone was instantly worried about Bucky. They didn’t know how much their new mate was involved in HYDRA, if at all, and they wanted to make sure their newest Alpha didn’t backtrack in his mental healing.

“Really guys, I’m fine.” He said firmly, but a soft smile pulled at his lips at his mate's concern. “She’s our soulmate, which means she’s meant for us. It doesn’t matter what her background is, she’s ours and I want her here as much as the rest of us do.” The Alpha said, letting his gaze slide over everyone at the table so that they could see the sureness behind them, the determination. Natasha let out a satisfied hum before popping a piece of fruit into her mouth. Another few minutes passed for the pack, quiet conversation going around the table as everyone finished their meals.

Steve cleared his throat loudly, watching as all his mates' heads turned once they heard the sound. A hopeful smile formed on his lips before he spoke. “Let's go bargain for our mate.”

“No.” Fury said firmly as he stood before the Avengers pack in holographic form. His arms were crossed tightly across his chest as his one eye squinted at the people in front of him.

“No! What do you mean no!” Tony exclaimed hotly, his fingers splaying out on the conference table in front of him. Steve and Bucky had just told the head of SHIELD their predicament and within two seconds of them being done speaking he had shot them down.

“You want me to stop my people from hunting down a dangerous HYDRA affiliate because she’s your soulmate.” There was a resounding unanimous ‘YES’ from everyone in the conference room. “You realize if I cared about the emotional attachments of the people we work hard to apprehend and stop that we would never capture anyone, right?”

“Well, we aren’t just anyone. We’re the Avengers.” Tony huffed.

“Does she have an actual record?” Clint chimed in, leaning forward on the table so he could the projected body of Fury better. Fury’s eye narrowed onto the Beta at his question.

“It doesn’t matter-”

“No. No.” Natasha cut him off. “He’s got a point. Does she have an actual record? Nothing petty like stealing lip gloss from a makeup story. Big things, like killing a governor or helping out mafia bosses, anything like that.” The Beta bit out.

Fury was quiet for a few moments, his watchful and calculating gaze sliding between each person in the room before he spoke. “No.”

“Then you’re simply calling her dangerous due to her parentage!” Clint accused.

“Look, we don’t know what she’s properly capable of. Her parents have a wide range of mutant abilities due to HYDRA’s testing, she could have any number of hidden abilities that could cause a lot of harm and destruction.” Fury said pointedly.

“What if you didn’t have Hill?” Bucky said suddenly, causing the conference room to fall deathly silent. The Alpha on-screen changed in posture, his back straightening and his chest puffing out a small bit at the mention of his Soulmate Omega. Bucky counted the Alpha, pushing his shoulders back and turning so his body was completely facing him as his eyes filled with challenge. “You need her in your life just as much as we need her in ours.” The third in command Alpha growled, gritting his teeth.

Before Fury could answer with his own threatening growl Steve stood up. The action commanding everyone to look at him even though his eyes were solely on the posturing Alpha on screen. “Look, I’m only going to say this once. You either get all of us or none of us.” Steve said resolutely. “She might not end up on our team, which honestly I’d prefer if she didn’t” A few grunts and a hum of agreement came from his pack. “But she’s still part of us and if you’re just going to stand in our way we will no longer be working with you. I know that we have enough brainpower, will power, and strength to continue our missions on our own.”

Fury simply looked at the Head Alpha. His eye appraising him softly before he uncrossed his arms and let out a heavy defeated sigh. “Fine.” He acquiesced. All of the eyes in the conference room suddenly lit up and large grins spread across everyone's face. “But!” Fury said sharply, calling back their attention. “You only have 1 month- ”

“Four!” Clint called out before he could finish.

“Two.” Fury bargained hotly.

“Three.” Tony stated firmly, gaining an irritated grumbled from the Alpha in front of them.

“Damn children.” He grumbled before shaking his head and continuing. “You have 3 months to show me she isn’t a threat to anything and that she is indeed on our side. Otherwise, I will feel no remorse sending my agents to come apprehend her.” Fury said coldly as he watched all of them nod eagerly. Leaning forward Fury reached out, letting his hand hover over the end call button. “Captain” He called out cooly, watching the Alpha’s eyes snap up to meet his immediately. “Don’t let me down.” He called out, and just as he was hitting the end button a small smile ghosted along the Alpha’s lips.

Once the call was ended the holograph disappeared everyone started to chatter excitedly. “Stark” Steve called over the slightly loud noise of his mates, instantly quieting them. “Do you know where she would be?”

Hastily the other Alpha threw the file he had with him onto the table. Rummaging through the papers he settled on one before scanning over it. “It says she has a job at the library downtown. She’s been there for... Two years apparently.” Tony said, slightly surprised that anyone could stay in such a place for a long time. “Other than that she might be at her house, doesn’t seem like she does much. Doesn’t even have a credit card from what I see.”

“Alright then, we’ll go in two teams just in case. Bucky and I will handle going to her home and you four go to the library.” Steve stated before looking to his mates gently. “Remember, she’s a child of HYDRA, you say how scared she was on that recording. Seeing us will probably set her on edge. Be as gentle as possible with her, we don’t want to scare her any more than she already is or possibly harm her. That being said we only have one objective for this mission.” A large grin spread across his lips. “Bring our Omega home.”

**Tuesday, 11:27am**

Mercy sighed softly as she looked down at the book in her hands.  _ The Red Pyramid _ by Rick Riordan. It was a good book, Egyptian mythology mixed with action and a lot of adventure, it was her type of book. But ever since yesterday she just couldn’t get herself to focus on just about anything today. She’d come into work two hours ago, and multiple times she found herself putting fiction with nonfiction, history with science, even a few mangas had ended up in the biography section of the library. That’s how she ended up being put up at the front desk. Her manager saw her having to redo sorting multiple times and took pity on the poor girl. Being at the front desk was easier than anything else. You just waited around for people to come up to you with a book they wanted to check out or check back in. In between, you could just read or catalog if it was needed, which is what Mercy had been trying to do for the past twenty minutes. But no matter how hard she forced her brain to stop worrying she couldn’t.

That video would be the end of her existence. She didn’t know if it had gotten popular yet, or if it ever would, but the fact that her face was so clearly out on the internet scared her. There were so many people out to get her family, and her for that matter. She was supposed to be laying low and working to make a life for herself, a much better one than what she was leading currently. The worst part about the whole thing was she couldn’t even try and run like she wanted to. She had just about no money at all, three twenties was all she had to her name currently because New York was hell to live in and a library job just barely made it so she could survive. Of course, Mercy could always just run away without money or anything, but she wasn’t keen on having to be homeless again. So she would have to wait the full week for her next paycheck before booking it.

When she first moved here after her parents told her to leave she’d been homeless for almost a year. A sixteen-year-old struggled to get work in New York, couldn’t sign anything legally, and couldn’t even stay at homeless shelters without a parental signature. A few times during that one year period she’d thought she was going to die because she couldn’t keep up with her body’s metabolism, that was scary. But her luck had turned when one day she ran into a mother and daughter who needed help capturing their dog who had taken off after a squirrel. It was an easy enough task to do, even running without her added speed she’d caught up to him and brought him back. Then they took her home to show their gratitude to the obviously malnourished girl by giving her some food. From there, still to this day, Mercy didn’t know how the woman took the older teen in like her own daughter. In exchange for letting her stay Mercy did almost every chore in the house and took care of the little girl. She still kept in contact with that woman, her name was Dorothy and her daughter’s name was Alice.

The poor distraught girl was so far in her thoughts as she stared at the paper pages that she didn’t notice someone walk up to her desk. A few times the man cleared his throat, trying to get her attention until finally, he spoke.

“Excuse me.” He said in a soft soothing voice. Even though it was meant to cause as little fear as possible Mercy still jumped, a soft yelp came from her. The noise echoing throughout the silent building. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you.” He assured her.

Hastily she put her bookmark in her book before bringing her eyes up to the man. “No, no, I’m sorry for not noticing you sooner..” Her words faltered as her eyes met the obviously nervous brunette in front of her. He was a few inches taller than her, she could tell by the extra few seconds it took for her eyes to climb up his stocky body. But when her silver eyes settled onto his deep brown ones she felt every atom in her body screamed at her to run away. Bruce Banner was standing in front of her, one of the Avengers Beta mates was nervously rubbing his hands together in front of her. Out of instinct her hand subtly fell onto her left hip, the green and purple double helix that was printed there seeming to radiate a small amount of heat at his presence. 

“Are you alright?” Bruce asked cautiously, watching as a flurry of emotions seemed to run through her silver eyes. The main two being fear that hides a small amount of excitement behind them.

“No. I mean yes!” Mercy said abruptly, clearing her throat as she yanked her eyes away from his so she could push her rolling chair over to the computer. “Were you looking to return a book or check one out?” She said, doing her best to force the tremor in her voice to be smoothed over by professionalism.

“Uh, I was actually hoping you could see if you had a certain book.” He said meekly.

“Yes of course, what’s it called?” Mercy said as she brought up the inventory page.

“Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie by Barbara Goldsmith.”

A few moments passed as Mercy typed away on her keyboard. Finally, a match popped up and she hummed softly. “Ah! We do have it. I will be right back with it.” With that Mercy got up from her chair and set off to get the book.

Once she was out of earshot Bruce brought his hand up to his ear where a com was sitting. “Guys she’s in here.” He whispered, doing his best to be subtle. “I’m surprised she didn’t run away when she saw me. She looked absolutely terrified.”

“What’s she doing now?” Natasha prodded.

“She went to go look for the book I asked for”

“I knew you were the best fit to go in.” Tony chirped proudly at his suggestion for Bruce to go in. Since he was most definitely the most likely person out of the four of them there to actually want to go into a library.

“Tony, are you sure she’s an Omega? She didn’t smell like one.” Bruce asked quietly, watching as he saw Mercy’s form slowly approach him.

“Yeah, it’s on her rank registry form. Ya know, the thing that makes it so you can be a citizen. She probably has blockers on. Kinda hard to smell like Omega in a public place.” Tony said with a small shrug even though no one could see it.

  
  


Mercy walked back to Bruce, doing her best to keep her hands from shaking as she felt the hardcover book. Once behind the counter she uneasily asked for his library card, scanning it then the book before handing both of them over. “I hope you find the book to your liking.” She managed to squeak out to him as he nodded before turning around to leave. She didn’t move until she watched him walk out of the building. As soon as he did she collapsed into the chair behind her and let out a loud breath. She needed to leave town,  _ now _ . There was no way he didn’t go home and tell his pack he saw her or at least SHIELD. God this was the worst two days of her life, and honestly, the Omega inside of her felt like crying.

That was the closest she had been to one of her mates since she had gotten her marks and presented as an Omega. The fact she was running from them and had to watch one of them walk away from her was tearing her apart inside. All she ever wanted was to curl up in one of their laps and listen to their heartbeat and count how many seconds it took for them to take one full breath. It was so domestic, so simple, and yet because of her parents, she could never experience that with them. No, she had to run from them otherwise her mates would make her life miserable of no fault of their own. She could very well be a threat to those around her if she ever got out of control for one reason or another. 

Getting up from her chair she walked into the back room behind the desk, spotting her manager. “Hey Janice, I’m really not feeling too good. Do you mind if I go home?” Mercy said softly as she looked to the older woman who was her manager.

“Yeah of course. Don’t worry about it, it’s only a Tuesday, you know we don’t normally get to many people on weekdays.” Janice smiled kindly. “Go home get some rest. Maybe next time you won’t put naruto between Goerge Washington and John Adams.” The older woman teased gently as the younger one went to pick up her purse from her locker.

With a soft goodbye, Mercy left the backroom, deciding to through the back entrance of the building instead of the main doors. She just needed to leave as quickly as possible without bringing much or any attention to herself. A few moments after she left the building and started walking through the back alleyways of New York she felt a very soft tingling sensation on her neck. Reaching up, thinking it was some of her hair irritating her skin she batted at her skin, trying to get it off. Only when she batted at her skin it didn’t make it stop, if anything the tingling was getting more intense as the seconds went by. Slowly she let her fingers run small circles on the area that was causing the sensation. That’s when she felt it, the raised skin of the pointed black arrow that she had hidden with concealer that morning. It was tingling, like how the other mark on her hip had gotten hot at the presence of Bruce. Was another one of her mates around her again? The scientist couldn’t have possibly relayed the information of her presence so quickly, surely.

Paranoia and fear raced through the Omega as she walked faster. But the faster she walked the more steady the mark on her neck tingled, this had to be her just being paranoid right. Even though she was trying to convince herself of such she still looked around, left to right to begin with, then front to back. No one was around her, but still, the mark forced her skin to tingle. Slowly, with a deep breath, she brought her eyes up to the roofs of the buildings she was walking by. Her breath caught in her throat as she caught the slightest glimpse of a combat boot disappearing behind a railing on the edge of one of the roofs. If she hadn’t been so tunnel-visioned and frantic she would have missed it because of how quick it was, but still, it was there. They really had gotten the news out to the other members a lot quicker than she expected.

That’s all the confirmation she needed for her eyes to snap forward. Just like she had the day before she reached up and tied her hair back into a ponytail. Then in the next moment, Mercy launched off the balls of her feet and suddenly she was nothing but a bright yellow streak racing through the alleyways. Shew swore though, that when she first took off she heard a man’s voice shout an expletive.

  
  


Clint watched in slight awe as his skittish mate took off on foot. It was one thing to watch her wiz past a camera but to watch it with your own eyes. Man he’d give anything to see it again. But that moment lasted for just a moment as he reached up and pressed his finger to his com. “She fled.” He announced gruffly.

“Well then go after her.” Tony chided urgently.

“Oh, yeah, okay Tony. I can follow after a mutant that’s running at the speed of light. Let me just turn on my secret powers real quick.” Clint quipped as he got up from his spot on the roof. Leaping to another roof in order to get closer to the road so the car Tony and Bruce were in could pick him up.

“Which way did she go?” Natasha asked, a soft revving being heard over the earpieces.

“East.” Clint responded through a huff of air as he landed on another roof.

“Tony isn’t her house east of here?” Natasha asked, the revving in her background turning into a deep rumble as the sound of a motorbike driving along pavement rang in everyone’s ears.

“Yeah it is.”

“You think she's going home?”

“Probably, she doesn’t have any other place to go.” Tony announced as the car halted. Clint dropped down from the balcony he was on and rushed into the car. “Where are your secret powers at huh?” Through the coms a small scuffle could be heard from the two men and Bruce’s scolding ‘guys we aren’t the only ones in the car!’.

Natasha could only shake her head at her mates antics. Honestly they couldn’t be left alone together for two minutes without starting  _ something _ . “Steve, Bucky, did you get all that?”

“Which part, the part where our Omega is currently bolting to her house at the speed of light or the fact I’m pretty sure Tony just about fucked Clint in the car.” Bucky snorted as his eyes scanned over the landscape, searching for any sign of his mates streaking color.

“The latter.” Natasha spoke through a laugh.

“We’re still here, never left. We’ll wait for her, see if she comes, and then we’ll try to stop her before she can go anyway else.” Steve said firmly, looking to Bucky, a big excited grin on his lips. They were so close to getting their Omega, so damn close.

A few minutes of silence passed as Bucky and Steve stood outside of the apartment building, leaning against the outer brick walls. Honestly, even if she didn’t want to come with them to the tower after this they were going to get her a different apartment. This place was one of the worst places to be, Natasha had looked it up and nine shootings were reported last week alone. Not to mention when they had walked inside earlier it was not inviting what so ever. The paint on the walls was chipped, the floorboards cracked under their weight and the _smell_. Both of the super-soldiers just about fell over with disgust as the pungent smell ripped through their nose. Yeah, no, she wasn’t living there anymore.

In the distance, both of the Alphas noticed a streak of bright yellow as it tore through the alleyways a few blocks away. Pushing off the wall they stood straight up, Steve crossing his arms as they waited patiently, expecting her to slow down at any point in time. But as the seconds ticked by, it didn’t seem like she was going to stop, not in the slightest. The two Alpha’s shared a worried look. How were they going to stop a light speed object without harming themselves? The seconds ticked by, even second letting her get closer and closer. Until finally she was not even a block away.

There was a split-second decision that was made in Bucky’s mind as he saw the bright yellow approach. He wasn’t going to let her run away from them. This was their Omega, she wasn’t allowed to leave them when they were so close. Using his vibranium arm, thank you Shuri, Bucky dug his fingers into the brick wall of the opposite side of the door frame. The stone didn’t quite crumble under his grasp, giving the super-soldier a makeshift hold as he braced himself for impact. This was going to go three ways; She’d stop seeing the obstruction, she’d continue running and completely obliterate his arm from the speed she was going at, or she’d hit his arm and be stopped. He really, really hoped it was going to be the last one.

A fraction of a second later the blur of bright yellow was in front of them, barrelling toward the vibranium arm currently acting as a barrier. But then as it got within a foot of the door frame, the blur slowed by such a minute amount that if Steve and Bucky weren’t super soldiers they wouldn’t have noticed it. Next thing they knew there was a high pitched  _ ting  _ followed by a deep  _ thump _ .

  
  


Mercy collided with the arm in front of her, the metal appendage at the perfect height for the top of her sternum and clavicle to ram into it. She had just barely managed to slow down when she saw the obstacle in front of her, enough to ensure that the person in her way wouldn’t get her. What she didn’t expect though was for herself to end up on the concrete of the sidewalk, staring up at the blue sky as she wheezed. The impact having knocked the breath from her lungs and momentarily sent her into a daze.

“James!” She heard beside her, but right now her body was too focused on figuring out what the actual hell just happened to look at the deep voice to her left.

“I got her to stop didn’t I! I just didn’t think she’d keep running a break neck speed!” Defended the voice to her right, his voice equally as deep but with a little bit more timbre to it. After a few moments the owners of the two voices came into her voice, two sets of concerned eyes looking her over.

“Hey Doll, you okay? Can you hear us?” Said the man on the right, moving to kneel on one of his knees as he gazed down at her. The man on the left kneeled on both of his knees, reaching one of his hands out to cup her face. The small touch made Mercy mewl ever so softly and instinctively she let her head lean into his hand. She heard two amused snorts come from above her, and that seemed to be the noise that knocked her senses back into her.

“Holy fuck that hurt!” Mercy barked out, bringing her hands up to lay on her chest. There was totally going to be a huge bruise there, no doubt about it. With her senses now coming back it was then that she felt the familiar burning sensation she felt on her hip start in her wrists. Looking down her eyes scanned over the red, white, and blue striped star on her left wrist before moving over to the white snowflake that held a red star in the middle of it. Taking a moment to look at the marks her eyes rose up to the two people kneeling next to her, her eyes going wide as fear quickly clouded over them. The Winter Soldier and Captain America were leaning over here as she laid on the ground. Oh, she was so screwed.

The realization that the Captain was currently touching her cheek only served to amplify the terror that raced through her. Reaching out she wrapped one of her hands around his wrist while the other hand settled in the middle of his chest. Holding his wrist tightly she pushed on his chest with all the strength she had and after a few seconds the Captain was suddenly soaring through the air only to be slammed down on his back the tops of their heads only inches away from crashing into each other.

Bucky’s eyes were wide with surprise as he watched his little Omega mate flip Steve onto his back. She obviously had much more than a speed mutation that was for sure. After his initial shock wore off a few moments later Bucky surged forward, hastily grabbing her wrists and pinning them above her head.

Mercy’s body really protested throwing Captain American over herself. Her muscles had flexed so hard she was sure they were going to pop like balloons. God she really needed to work out more than carrying boxes in the library. That thought was ripped from her as The Winter Soldiers' hands clamped over her wrists and pinned them to the ground. Instantly Mercy started to struggle, pushing with every she had against the iron-clad grip of the soldier. But it was really no use and she knew it. Mercy always joked with herself that she was a knock-off version of the soldiers, just with an added speed bonus. But that little internal joke became the reality as the strength she could muster was only enough to lift her arms half an inch off of the ground. While she gritting her teeth with effort, the Soldier above her was unphased, but a gentle sadness was creeping over her features.

“Omega stop struggling, please.” Bucky pleaded softly with her, watching as she pushed and writhed beneath him. He could smell the fear and defeat that coursed through her. Though it was a lot more muted than it should have been. Was she wearing scent blockers?

“No!” She barked out, anger and other emotions lacing her words. “You’re going to turn me into SHIELD and then--” Mercy choked on her words as she pushed with everything she had against the Soldier’s grip. “Then they're going to try and use me to find my family. No! You can’t use me to hurt them! No!” She cried out, her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she gasped for air between sobs.  _ This is really it,  _ She thought to herself, _ I’m really going to be turned in and my family won’t be safe anymore. _

“ **Omega,** **look at me**.” Came a deep command above her. Instantly her eyes flew open, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes down her cheeks. When she looked up she saw the Captain leaning over her, his chiseled features upside down as he gazed down at her with gentle but firm blue eyes. “We’re not going to turn you into SHIELD.”

Those words knocked the words out of Mercy’s chest as her red-rimmed silver eyes looked back into his blue ones. “You’re.. You’re not?..” She whispered in disbelief. Steve simply shook his head in response. Mercy simply stared up at him, her eyes flitting to the Winter Soldier still pinning her down before returning to Steve’s. “What-- What-- Why..”

Before Steve could speak there was the distinct sound of a motorbike pulling up to the curb along with the quieter sound of a car pulling up behind it. “You got her!” Chimed Tony and Clint as they scrambled out of the car. Underneath the two Super Soldiers they felt their Omega tense and the scent of fear that had momentarily shifted to confusion came back. 

Holding out his hand to his hands he halted them in their path. Natasha, being in front of the two other three men, put her arm out, watching as Tony and Clint collided into her then each other while Bruce stopped a few away.

“We’re not turning you in because you’re out mate, Little Omega.” Bucky rumbled softly to her, watching as the deep sound made her muscles relax ever so slightly. “I’m sure you knew already. Steve’s mark isn’t the most discreet, it screams America.” The Alpha teased, gaining a huff of annoyance from his lover.

Mercy simply stared up at Bucky as she heard him. They - They knew she was their mate! The Omega tried to think further on the subject but the marks scattered around her body were burning, all except for the one on her right wrist. Turning her head slowly she looked out, spotting the four other people standing a ways away from her. The smaller red-head was looking at her with concern and curiosity. The two men next to her, one of them being Tony Stark but she wasn’t sure who the sandy blonde-haired man was, looked at her excitedly like she was some kind of odd prize. Bruce was standing the farthest away she realized, her gaze cast downwards at the dying grass. Was he upset with her? Had she managed to already disappoint her mates even though she’d been with them for all of twenty seconds?

That thought alone pulled a saddened whine from Mercy’s throat, without her consent. The noise made Steve scrunch his brow in slight confusion, but he motioned with his outstretched hand for the other members of their pack to approach. It took all of ten seconds for the four of them to rush to her sides, looking down at her with varying expressions. 

“Won’t you guys..” She finally whispered after looking at each of her mates thoroughly. “Won’t you guys get in trouble with SHIELD? For harboring me?” Mercy said, concerned threading its way into her expression.

“No, honey.” Natasha soothed, hesitantly reaching her hand out to run through the Omega’s hair. “We talked with the director. He’s giving you a pass, for the time being, so we can show him you're a good person. Not the scary thing he thinks you are.” She soothed.

At first Mercy hummed at the comforting fingers running through her hair. But the mentioning of her being scary to others made the comfort wash away quickly. “But I could be..” She whispered, letting her eyes drop for a moment before she felt someone fingers on her chin, directing her gaze to them. When she looked up, she found it was none other than Tony Stark.

“No, you really can’t. What person goes from saving not one, not two, but twelve people from a burning building to suddenly being a supervillain.” Tony pointed out, gaining a small snort from the sandy blonde next to him. Without hesitation Tony brought his free hand up and swatted the Beta on the back of the head in reprimand. “Shut it, Clint.” He hissed quietly.

Even with all six of them currently kneeling in the grass next to her and on the concrete under her, there were still so many things she was scared of. What if they turned on her? What if they decided she wasn’t worth the time. She wasn’t much of an Omega sometimes it felt like, would that upset them?

“Mercede” Her name was said in a familiar soft voice and instantly her far off gaze went to Bruce Banner. “We know this is probably hard to believe, hard to get through your head right now. Trust us, we know that. We don’t know what you’ve been through or what you’ve been taught to expect. But what we can say is your our Soulmate, and we will protect you with every fiber of our being and we want you with us.”

“So please.” Steve butted in, watching as her eyes flicked to his. “Give us at least a chance to prove that to you before you run away.” His voice was soft and wrapped around Mercy like a reassuring blanket. She had come to terms with never being able to have this in her life when she presented seven years ago. Not only did she present as an Omega but she had six very distinguished and well-known people as her mates. Her mother has shown her such pity and sadness when she told her she’d never be able to meet them due to their circumstances. Mercy cried for weeks at the knowledge her Soulmates had been so cruelly ripped from her hands before she even got the privilege to meet them. Was this the Universe telling her she had a chance at something she had wanted for so long. To belong somewhere, to finally feel safe and loved somewhere with people she could get along with? If it was, would she really just throw it away like it was nothing?

“Okay.” Mercy whispered finally after a few minutes of silence. She watched as every one of her mates' faces turned from hopefully guarded to surprised and varying degrees of excitement. “I’ll give it a chance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd you think? Am I doing okay?  
> Thank you so much for reading!


	3. The First Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Description of a Panic Attack

**Wednesday 1:07am**

Mercy stared up at the ceiling of the guest floor her pack had insisted on her in staying. Apparently, when they had pinned her outside of her apartment they decided she wasn’t allowed back there. They all said it was too dangerous and the building was falling apart - they weren’t wrong. She had known that since she moved into the place three years ago. New York was a death trap for anyone who didn’t have a steady stream of money, and it had to be a big stream of money. So she took whatever she could get, even if for the first few months she lived there she thought she was gonna be shot in her sleep. That had actually happened to her neighbor. Present tense, because whoever shot the dude was such a terrible shot they missed his heart point-blank range. Who misses point-blank range?!?

A small sigh escaped her lips as her eyes continued to look up at the lines in the ceiling. Already she felt like this was too much, she’d known them for not even twenty-four hours and they were already insisting on her living here. Well, it was mostly Clint and Tony. They seemed to be the most outwardly excited about her presence and weren’t shy in showing it. At one point Tony went to give her a hug and that didn’t go over well with her. The moment his hands wrapped around his waist a startled yelp left her throat and her arm flew backward. A snicker left her lungs as she recalled how the Alpha let go of her and buckled over; a few of her other mates teasing him about giving her space. It was a funny memory, even if her reaction was due to her lack of physical contact over the years.

Her pack seemed to already have everything figured out, obviously, they had been together for a while. The Alpha’s worked together well and the Beta’s all knew their boundaries. Though it seemed like Clint liked to push them every chance he got. The chemistry between them all as well was ungodly, but their pack had been together for a while and had so much experience together. Did she even have a place here after all? They’d already made such a beautiful pack without her, what if she just messed everything up? Mercy let out a soft groan as she rolled onto her stomach, pushing her face into one of the pillows. She needed to stop with all these negative thoughts, though it was a lot harder than it seemed to do. Maybe going out for a walk would help her clear her head, and help her feel tired because she’d been looking up at the dimly lit ceiling for three hours.

With that thought Mercy pushed herself out of the memory foam bed, throwing back the duvet she was under. She walked over to the backpack of clothes they let her get. That was almost disastrous. Once she had calmed down and Bucky let go of her (after promising multiple times she wouldn’t run) she got up to go back to her apartment. Her pack instantly grabbed at her, telling her no and that she would live with them. That was all fine and dandy, at the time anyways now she wasn’t so sure, but she still needed clothes. Natasha had offered her to just use her clothes till she was settled in though anyone new that wouldn’t really work in Mercy’s favor. The Beta was an inch or two taller than her, not to mention a larger bust and slimmer hips. So after about two minutes of her pack arguing over it, they finally settled on letting Mercy go to retrieve clothes with an escort.

Reaching in she fished out a grey sweater with the iron man logo on the front. Even though she had accepted the fact she wasn’t going to meet her mates she still found a large amount of comfort in wearing their merchandise. Though she noticed there was a serious lack of hawkeye stuff, even the Winter Soldier had more stuff. With the slightly oversized sweater on Mercy made her way to the elevator. Reaching out she pressed the button, but instead of staying bright white, it continued to be dull. Scrunching her brow she tried again, and again, and again. Until FRIDAY spoke up.

“I’m sorry Miss Wessex but pushing the button more than once will not make the elevator work currently.” The AI responded. Mercy let out a small scream of surprise at the sudden voice in her room. “I apologize for startling you, Miss.” FRIDAY apologized. Mercy had heard her voice a few times throughout the day while her pack was showing her around the building. But having it in her ears out of the blue was unsettling.

“I-I um…” Mercy stuttered, taking a few deep breaths before attempting to speak again. “I just wanted to go for a walk.” She whispered, looking up at the ceiling then around the room as if she could get a glimpse of the AI.

“I’m sorry Miss Wessex but Night Protocol has been put into effect since ten.” The AI responded.

Mercy tilted her head, confused. Night Protocol? They hadn’t told her anything about that. “Is... Is that why I can’t leave?”

“Yes Ma’am,” FRIDAY responded instantly.

Mercy let her gaze fall from the ceiling to the floor. Did they think she was going to leave without being provoked? Was she that bad of a mate that they already thought she’d leave them? Chewing on her lips she spoke up. “I will come back, I promise. Can you please let me in the elevator?”

“I’m sorry Miss. You don’t have the authorization to lift the protocol.”

“W-who does?” Mercy asked hesitantly.

“Captain Rogers and Boss are the only ones with high enough clearance. Though there was some arguing about Boss having the ability to lift it.” The AI educated before falling quiet once again.

Mercy felt like someone had just slammed a semi into her chest, and she should know because she ran into Bucky’s arm earlier today. Which was basically the equivalent. But right now she simply felt like there was a mountain of pressure on her chest. Did they lie to her? Were they going to bring her into SHIELD tomorrow, or maybe some agents were going to take her in a few hours? Why else would they isolate her and lock her in a room? The Omega’s whole body started to shake with fear, had her mates lied to her? Did they say all those things just to get her to come here so they could turn her over? There had to be another way out, there had to be. Mercy raced around the floor, looking for any other way out. After a few minutes of searching, she only proved to herself that there really was only one way out.

It hurt to breathe, each breath felt like someone was continually squeezing the air out of her lungs. The lack of oxygen forced her to have to sit down, putting her back against one of the floor to ceiling windows. Glancing back she looked out over the city, she was at least fifty floors up. They really made it so she couldn’t go anywhere, she would put money on the fact that the glass in this room could withstand one of Tony’s repulsors as well. That thought made tears leak from her eyes as she gasped for air. She was cornered, nowhere to go.

“Miss I am reading a decrease in oxygen intake and an alarming increase in heart rate. I have contacted your mates. I recommend taking deep breaths until they arrive.” FRIDAY chimed suddenly. Though Mercy didn’t really hear what she said, her thoughts were too loud to push to the side at the moment and whatever the AI said probably wasn’t important. Between whimpers Mercy managed to take large gasps of air, putting her head back against the cold glass as her legs drew up against her chest. She was really stupid for ever trusting anyone with her life besides herself. That was the first rule of survival that her Head Alpha father had drilled into her head; rely on no one but yourself, no matter what.

A soft ding came from the elevator as Tony, Steve, and Bucky exited. At first, they were alarmed to see the space in front of them empty, but hearing a whimper off to the far right all three of them quickly headed towards it. Stopping only when they saw the small Omega curled up in a ball on the floor, gasping for air.

“FRIDAY what’s going on?” Tony asked in a soft but ridged voice, not wishing to scare their newest mate but also feeling distressed at her state.

“She seems to be having a panic attack, sir.” FRIDAY dutifully replied.

“What caused it?” Bucky asked quietly, starting to very slowly approach the tightly balled woman.

“I am unsure as to the exact cause, but when I informed Miss Wessex that she could not leave the tower for a walk it started.” Tony shot Steve a glare at the AI’s word. The Head Alpha looked away a bit sheepishly at the silent reprimand. Bucky was slowly making ground on the Omega, going slowly until he was about a foot away.

“Hey Doll, can you look at me please?” He asked quietly, watching her carefully. When she didn’t respond he frowned, moving to kneel in front of her. “Doll, I need you to look at me.” He said, reaching his flesh hand out and setting it on her knee lightly. Even though she hadn’t reacted to his voice, Mercy reacted to his touch.

The moment his hand landed on her knee Mercy’s body tensed and fear flared throughout her. “No! No!” She yelped, putting her hands out to stop her ‘attacker’. “You can’t take me no!” She gasped out, another wave of tears rushing down her cheeks.

Bucky had quickly given the Omega more space as soon as he saw her swat at his hand. Looking back he sent his fellow Alpha mates a pleading look. While he’d experienced this exact thing before he didn’t think he’d be very good at pulling her out of it. Tony sighed before approaching the now shaking woman. Bending down he folded his knees under himself, then without any hesitation, he grabbed her hands. Two gasps of surprise came from Steve and Bucky but he ignored them in favor of focusing on his struggling mate.

“Mercede look at me.” He said firmly, holding her hands tightly in his as she thrashed against him. Internally he really hoped she wouldn't start kicking otherwise his poor stomach was going to get the brunt of it. With some difficulty, Tony managed to put both of her wrists in one of his large hands, holding them firmly as his now free hand hooked under her chin. Once he got hold of her chin her silver eyes flew up to meet his brown ones. “There you go, Darling.” He hummed happily, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Now, breathe with me. Deep breaths.”

Mercy followed along with Tony’s breathing. It took a few quiet minutes but finally, she was able to take a normal breath. The black edges that had formed around her vision receded until they were no longer there. With her breathing under control, she was now able to sniffle, only now realizing that she had been crying. “When did you guys get here?” She said hoarsely.

Steve chuckled ever so slightly. “We’ve been here for at least ten minutes.” He replied gently, watching as her eyes went wide with realization.

“So now that you’re calm,” Tony said quickly. “Would you care to tell us what caused this?” He said with no judgment in his voice, only a tinge of concern and relief being held in it.

Mercy looked down, chewing on her lips softly as she gently tugged on Tony’s hand so he would let go of her wrists. “I just..” Looking back up her gaze jumped between the three Alphas in front of her. None of them moved or showed they were annoyed with her stuttering, all of them waiting patiently for her to elaborate. “Please don’t turn me in.” She said meekly, letting her gaze fall to the ground once again.

“Why do you think we’re going to turn you in? We told you that you are pardoned for a while Doll.” Bucky questioned softly.

“Because... I tried to leave to take a walk like I do sometimes at home when I can’t sleep, and FRIDAY said I wasn’t allowed to use the elevator… And there’s no other way out of this floor besides the elevator.” Mercy admitted quietly. But when she looked up she didn’t see the scolding looks she expected. Instead, Tony and Bucky’s gaze were trained on Steve, the other Alpha looking from the two of them as a small amount of red flooded his cheeks.

“That would be my fault,” The Head Alpha admonished softly, letting himself look to the Omega, watching confusion take over her features. “Our pack has a hard time sleeping and sometimes staying asleep. So I put in a protocol, and rule, that between the hours of 10pm and 5am all rooms that mates are sleeping in are locked down.” Steve reached a hand up and rubbed at the back of his neck. “I forgot to tell you that. I’m sorry Sweetheart.” He said apologetically.

“Oh.” Was all Mercy said in response, running her nails over the scratchy material of her sleep pants. She really thought they were going to turn her in. Their her mates for Christ's sake and she really thought they lied to her. Her thoughts must have shown on her face because Tony pipped up suddenly.

“Hey, I would have been terrified too. Getting locked into a foreign environment with no way out. It’s not easy to cope with.” He assured her gently, gaining a small nod. “We’ll make sure that when you're in a room that protocol stays off until you trust us more. Or until the Old man over there stops being a stickler about sleep.” He said before gaining a small indignant huff from said Alpha.

“You... You guys want me to stay?” Mercy said, disbelief coloring her words and face. She had just shown them how little trust she had in them, and they had to calm her down from having a panic attack. But they were talking about making her more comfortable for the future.

“Of course Doll,” Bucky said, smiling affectionately to her. “We’re your mates. We want to help you be a better version of yourself. Even if it means we have to wait a while for you to trust us and feel comfortable.” He soothed.

Mercy’s heart fluttered in her chest as she looked up at the three men. They all seemed so serious about what they said. They really wanted her to stay around, be there mate. A small feeling of happiness spread throughout her chest, and a small smile spread across her lips as she looked back down at the hardwood beneath her feet. She was wanted by her mates.

“Alright. I think you’ve had enough adrenalin for one day.” Tony said, putting his hands out for her to take. “How about we get you tucked into bed?” Mercy nodded at the Alpha’s words reaching out to take his hands, all though she did it with a measured hesitancy. After helping her up the three Alpha’s made their way into the guest bedroom. Tony pulled back the covers so that Mercy could climb into bed. Once she did he made quick work of pulling the blankets up to her chest and tucking them in around her body. “Good. Now if you need anything, I don’t care what time it is, you have FRIDAY wake us up in the pack room okay? Also, the Night protocol will be lifted so if you still want to go out for a walk later then go ahead, Darling.” Tony said soothingly, very lightly letting his fingers run through the Omega’s hair.

“Sleep well Doll,” Bucky whispered.

“We’ll see you in the morning Sweetheart,” Steve called out behind the two other Alphas. With their goodnight’s said the three of them turned to leave. Mercy watched as they started to walk away from her. Her heart constricted in her chest at the sight. Even though she wasn’t comfortable sleeping in the pack room with all of them she didn’t want to be alone. Not tonight anyway, not after everything.

“Wait!” She called out, leaning over the side of the bed to grab Tony’s wrist. Instantly all three of the Alpha’s stopped in their tracks, turning to look at her. “I don’t... Can you... Ah.” Mercy faltered momentarily. Was she really going to ask one of them to stay with her? Away from the rest of the pack like they normally were at night? But they said if she needed anything, and if they were really wanting her to be comfortable with them they’d help her, right? “Can you stay with me, please?” She said, raising her eyes up to meet Tony’s. Her silver irises soft and pleading.

The second in command Alpha couldn’t contain the smile that spread across his lips. “Of course Darling.” He said smoothly, turning to look at Bucky and Steve. “Go on upstairs, I’ve got her. I’m sure the rest of the pack is worried about her.” The two Alpha’s simply nodded before leaving the room, leaving Tony and Mercy alone. “Where do you want me?”

“Can you… Can you lay down next to me?” She whispered, unsure of her words. But instead of getting an answer from the Alpha he simply moved around the bed. Crawling onto it from the other side, staying on top of the blankets to give her space. Once he was settled in he looked down at her, smiling softly. With him only a few inches away Mercy felt herself relax. She’d only known them for not even a full day and their presence was already affecting her. Turning herself onto her side she scooted herself closer to him, inch by inch until her body was pressed against his side. The Omega glanced up, checking if this was alright, but the Alpha simply smiled down at her, so she took that as a good sign.

Slowly she brought her hand up to his chest, her palm resting over the glowing arc reactor in his chest. It was pretty, the blue light was just as soothing as his presence, and soon enough she found herself running her finger over the outline of the shapes. First around the outer edges then she moved to the inside, letting the pad of her finger run over the triangular inside under his shirt. It reminded her of the blue circle with a triangle in it on her shoulder blade. Oh! That must be his mark. The thought made her smile ever so slightly as her head rested against his chest.

Tony didn’t move a centimeter as he watched the Omega curiously. Honestly, he was a bit scared that if he breathed too heavily it’d scare her away. The proximity to his Omega made the Alpha in him rumble happily. She was so close, and hopefully one day she’d let him hold her closer at night while she slept. He noticed the way her eyes fluttered as she rested her head on his chest, a smile permanently painting itself on his lips. “Sleep Omega.” He rumbled calmly. “I’ll be here to protect you.” With those few reassuring words, he watched as her eyes finally fluttered shut and within a few minutes her breathing evened out, slow and steady.

While she was sleeping Tony leaned forward, pressing his nose to the top of her and taking a deep breath. But the scent he was given made his brow furrow. With how distressed she was earlier her scent shouldn’t be this light. It should be overwhelming, even if she was now decently calm an Omega’s scent didn’t just snap back like that. Now that he thought about it she never had an overwhelming scent like other Omega’s had. He’d be around Pepper’s Omega before and even when she was calm the room always ended up smelling like her. Was Mercy sick? If she did wear blockers they should have worn off by now, so that wasn’t it. Concern swelled in his chest at the idea of his little mate being ill. She was already so emotionally fragile, being sick wouldn’t help that.

After a few moments of contemplating possible ideas for her lack of scent Tony sighed. There was no use in him dwelling on it now when he couldn’t get facts to back up any of his ideas. So reluctantly the Alpha very slowly wrapped one arm around the Omega’s shoulders, leaned his head back against the pillows, and let himself drift into a quiet slumber.

**Wednesday 8:07am**

Mercy groaned softly as light poured gradually into the room. Moving one of her hands she brought it up to cover her eyes, nuzzling her face into her pillow. It was a lot harder than normal, had she folded it in her sleep? Also, since when does that much sunlight come into her room. Reluctantly she pulled her hand away from her eyes and let them open. Within a few moments, she noticed two things. The first one being there was a bright blue glow in her face, secondly, she was snuggled up tightly to another person. After blinking away the blurriness in her eyes she let them wander up, only to find Tony staring down at her fondly.

“Good morning Sleeping Beauty.” He rumbled, his voice coaxed in sleep. “I assume you slept well?” He questioned softly, gingerly letting his fingers run through her hair.

Mercy simply stared up at him, her silver eyes wide with surprise. Last night when she asked him to stay she had fully expected to wind up alone in her bed after she fell asleep. But he was still here, and by the sounds of it, he had found some comfort and slept as well. “Oh. Yeah, I slept well, thank you.” The Omega said timidly her eyes drifting down to look at her hand that was now only half covering the arc reactor in his chest. That’s when she noticed just how tightly she was pressed against him, had she done that in her sleep? “I’m sorry this is probably an uncomfortable way to sleep.” She whispered moving to pull her hand off of his chest and push away from him.

Before she got too far, Tony’s hand shot out and grabbed hers, tenderly tugging her back into his body. “Don’t assume things. I actually really liked sleeping with you like this. You’re like a small inferno even with the blankets on, did you know that?” He said with a wide grin that made Mercy look away and blush softly. The small reaction only made Tony chuckle softly. “Alright. I’m sure some of the others are up by now as well. How about you get dressed then we’ll head upstairs.” With that said Mercy nodded, and this time when she pulled away Tony didn’t reach after her but simply got out of the bed with her.

After a slightly awkward exchange of Mercy asking Tony to step out of the room so she could change, she got dressed. Black skinny jeans, light grey tank top and a jean button up shirt - Mercy joined Tony outside of her room. It was a relief to see that the elevator was now working, meaning she wasn’t trapped inside this floor for the foreseeable future. 

It took only a minute or two for both of them to arrive at the pack floor, and once they stepped off the elevator Mercy was bombarded by a heavy scent of sweetness. Instantly the Omega sniffed at the air, forcing Tony to stifle a laugh as they continued their way into the pack floor. The closer they got to the kitchen the more she noticed how three of her marks burned dully under her skin; The red, white, and blue striped star on her wrist, the black arrow on her neck, and the red triangular hourglass on her right hip in particular. It was odd, how come those ones burned but the blue circle and triangle on her shoulder blade didn’t. Stark was right next to her, maybe someone could explain it to her if only she had enough courage to ask.

The two of them walked into the kitchen and were greeted with the sight of Natasha cooking while Clint played a game on his phone and Steve read a newspaper. “Ooo. Are you making your infamous french toast?” Tony chirped excitedly as he left Mercy’s side to approach the red-haired female. 

“Yes. I thought it would be fitting for a first breakfast together with our mate.” Natasha cooed before turning her head to look at Mercy, who was still simply standing in the doorway of the kitchen. The assassin gave her a little wink before whipping around and smacking Tony’s hand with her spatula as he tried to grab a piece. “Ah ah.” The Beta tutted. The Alpha huffed before crossing his arms and walking away, approaching Mercy.

“I’m going to go shower in the pack room, will you be okay?” He asked softly.

Mercy nodded slowly. “Yes.” She said softly. With that the Alpha nodded and walked off to the side, opening the door to the pack room before stepping in. When he did soft groans could be heard from inside the room. Mercy tilted her head curiously and started to slowly walk towards the now closed door. A few steps in, Clint appeared behind her.

“I wouldn’t go in there right now if I were you.” He said, pushing his phone into his pocket as he watched the small Omega almost jump to the ceiling from his sudden appearance. “Sorry, sorry. I forget you’re not trained like the rest of us are. Well everyone except Tony and Bruce. I sneak up on those two all the time.” The Beta said, holding his hands up nonthreateningly as he grinned smugly.

It took Mercy all of two seconds to calm down. Apparently being around her Soulmates made it easier for her to keep herself from spiraling into fear. “I’ll keep that in mind. Though for the time being, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t speak up on me... On purpose.” She admitted softly before her eyes flicked to the door that she had been venturing to. “So no one in there is hurt?” That made Clint snort.

“Trust me. No one behind that door is getting hurt... Unwillingly.” Reaching out Clint wrapped his hand around her wrist. He did so with hesitation and his hold was light so that she could pull out of it if she wished. “Let’s go back to the kitchen. I’m pretty sure Nat was done cooking. She’s really excited for you to eat her french toast.” Both of them made their way back into the kitchen.

Nat looked up as she saw the two approach, a broad smile on her face as she set down a plate of french toast topped off with syrup and strawberries. “Hey,  зайка .  I hope you’re hungry.” She purred, doing her best to school the excitement that threaded its way into her words. While the Alpha’s were ecstatic to have an Omega, Natasha was just happy to have another woman in the pack. Don’t get her wrong she loves her boys to death, but not being able to have girl-talk or play dress-up was depressing sometimes.

“You didn’t have to make me a-”

Clint cut her off before she could finish her sentence by leaning over to her ear and whispering. “Just leave it be. You’ll make her pout for the rest of the day. She may not be an Alpha but she still likes to spoil and take care of us.”

That information made the Omega quickly amend her words. “I am hungry. Thank you, Natasha.” Mercy said before moving to sit in the chair she had pulled out for her. On the other side of the table, Steve was hiding his increasing grin behind his newspaper. He was so glad his Beta’s were treating their new mate delicately, not that he didn’t think they would. It just seemed as though their new Omega would need a very gentle hand for the foreseeable future. 

Mercy picked up her fork and knife, cutting into the hot cinnamon bread before bringing it up to her mouth. Almost immediately after the food hit her tongue a soft moan came from her. The sound rattled her three mates, all three of them looking between each other as if to confirm the others found it as sexy as them. 

“This is really good!” Mercy hummed, her eyes searching for Natasha’s. The other woman simply beamed up at her, and the Beta couldn’t contain the fond smile that plastered itself on her lips.

“I’m glad you think so  зайка, because I do most of the cooking. Well, when I’m not battling Bruce for the kitchen anyway.” Natasha said before turning to go make plates for the rest of her mates and herself. Mercy hadn’t noticed how slowly she had been eating until she heard the door to the pack room opening and closing. Out came Bruce with Bucky and Tony in tow. Glancing up at the clock her eyes widened slightly as she saw it’d taken her twenty minutes to eat her plate of food. It had been a while since Mercy had a home-cooked meal as good as this one. On her budget, she ate a lot of frozen meals, things that could be microwaved instead of baked in an oven. It wasn’t ideal by a long shot but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

The three men wasted no time in approaching the table. Bucky and Tony sitting in the open seats next to Steve, who was sitting at the head of the table. Bruce settled in the open spot next to her, her other side having been taken up by Natasha, who was openly watching her eat with an enamored expression. Though there had been a very intense round of rock, paper, scissors between her and Clint to see who could sit next to her. Mercy was pretty sure he was still on the other side of Natasha sulking over the fact he lost. Once the three men settled in the table burst out into quiet chatter like it had the previous night when they ate dinner together. 

Mercy was content to simply listen to her mates chat. Bucky and Steve were talking about a sports article he read, Bruce and Tony were talking about some kind of experiment they had going on downstairs. She really did try to listen to their conversation, she was intrigued but all of the advanced science babble quickly made her feel lost in the conversation. 

Tony looked to Bruce, making a face as his eyes glanced at Mercy. The Beta instantly took the queue and turned his attention to the Omega next to him. “So, Mercy, would it be alright if I took you down to the lab later to run some tests?” Bruce said softly as he looked at her.

Mercy felt herself recoil ever so slightly. “T-tests?” She stuttered uncomfortably.

Bruce looked to her, his brow scrunching up as he saw her sudden apprehension. Before any more time could pass to allow her to be uncomfortable Bucky butted into the conversation. “A physical exam, Doll. Bruce just wants to check up on your health, see if you might need any medication. He does that for the rest of us at least once a month.” He said gaining acknowledging nods from the rest of their mates. Mercy visibly calmed after the Alpha’s explanation.

“Oh, then yeah of course. Though, it’ll have to wait because I have a shift at ten.” Mercy said softly, looking up at the Beta as he nodded, before turning to look at Tony. “Speaking of which…” She chewed at her lips nervously. “I-I assume we’re kinda far away from downtown now. S-So do you think” Mercy hesitated, falling silent as she watched the Alpha across from her look at her patiently. “Can you give me a ride to work?” She finally squeaked out. The timidness of the question made all of the Alphas shift ever so slightly. Their need to comfort and show the Omega she was safe and welcome to ask questions flaring within them.

“Of course darling. Though I have a meeting at 9:30, and Pepper will have my ass if I’m not there.” Tony said, shuttering at the memory of last time he skipped out on an important meeting. 

“I can take her,” Steve said, looking at Mercy and tilting his head. “If that’s okay with you?” He gained a nod of agreement. “Great, then we’ll leave around 9:30.” With that everyone settled back into their seats, for the time being, going back to their previous conversations. Meanwhile, Mercy was using all of her self control not to wiggle in her chair. Her mates were being so understanding and slow with her. Even when she fumbled through her thoughts the Alphas didn’t press her to get it out quicker. The Beta’s were really sweet too. Maybe this really was her chance to get to know her pack and be a part of it. Even if it wasn’t, Mercy was going to hold onto this for as long as she could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd you guys think?  
> I actually had a really good time writing this chapter!  
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> зайка (pronounced Zeh-I-kah) - Bunny


	4. Questions

**Thursday, 1:45pm**

Mercy sat on the couch in front of the TV on the pack floor. Clint was sitting next to her, leaning into her as he explained the phone she had in her hands.

“So, this isn’t a normal phone, it’s a Stark-phone,” He started, needing to explain that right away after she had pointed out it looked like a thicker version of an iPhone. “Don’t make that face. Tony made it himself, it’s got upgraded battery life, and a hell of storage capacity.” He said before continuing to rattle off the upgraded aspects of the phone. Though as he spoke Mercy simply sat there, a brow arched. Finally, he stopped as he looked at her. “What?”

She grinned. “So it’s just an upgraded iPhone basically.” Clint groaned and slumped back into the couch, his arms hanging loosely next to him in defeat.

“You’re not gonna accept anything I say till I acknowledge that are you?” All he got in response was a small laugh. “Fine, yeah, he basically upgraded the latest iPhone.” He grumbled sourly, moving to fold his arms over his chest. Mercy shook her head as she looked at the sleek white phone in her hands. She’d always seen them on display at Walmart and one or two shops in the mall. But she always skipped over getting one because of the security risks with it.

“Why was I given this again?”

Clint looked at her. “Because we would like to have a better way to communicate with you. It’s not like we’re going to sit next to you and use that instead of looking at your face and talking. Long-distance conversation only, just so we are able to know you're okay. Because we worry about you when you leave the tower for work or your late-night walks.” A smile formed on his lips as he watched an ever so slight red tint of red bloom across her cheeks.

“Okay..” She said timidly, tapping her thumb on the screen to make it light up. “But what about security risks.. Phones aren’t exactly secure from what I’ve heard, and what if I lose it? Won’t your guys' phone numbers be in here as well? Someone could hack into it and take them or- or-”

“Hey, hey, woah woah. Slow down, Missy.” Clint said abruptly, reaching his hand out to wrap around his wrist. Almost immediately the Omega clamped her own hand onto his forearm, grounding herself. “Breathe for me. Good, good. Now, we wouldn’t give you something if we didn’t know it was safe for you to have. We know that there are people out there who are wanting to do not nice things to you. Trust me, we know that, and we are going to make sure we do everything in our power to keep you safe.” Reaching with his other hand he tapped the phone in her hands. “This is one of those things in our power. Any signal this gives off can only be detected by Stark-satellites, nothing else. If anyone tried to get into this phone without the passcode, they’d find everything to be deeply encrypted. Something even Tony and Nat together would have a hard time cracking, and they made it!” Clint said with a small chuckle, watching carefully as Mercy cracked an ever so slight smile.

He scooted a fraction closer to her, still holding onto her wrist. “Hey, can you look at me please?” He smiled softly as he watched her eyes instantly snap to his. “There are those pretty eyes.” He hummed soothingly. “I know you’ve only been here a few days, and you're still getting used to all of this, and us, but please try to give us just a little bit more of your trust. Especially when it comes to your personal safety, okay? Do you think you can do that for me? For the pack?” Mercy nodded slowly in response. “Great, that’s great… Can I have a hug?” The Beta asked apprehensively.

Mercy looked to Clint, her face scrunching slightly at his question. The past few days she’s been here she found that she gravitated to him, and Bruce, more than the others. The Alpha’s made her nervous every time she was around them. Well, Tony was a hit or miss, sometimes he’d make her nerves flare while other times he’d be soothing and gentle. Natasha was a whole other ordeal. The Beta was caring and soothing but the intenseness that oozed from her very being made Mercy want to put a fake tail between her legs and run. So she stuck to being around Clint and Bruce in her downtime (and occasionally Tony). In those hours she felt herself becoming more comfortable with them, with the idea that they really wanted her as their mate. But did she want to chance letting herself be more vulnerable than she already was in their presence?

Her apprehension must have shown clear as day on her face because Clint opened his mouth to speak. Damn, she needed to get better at not being so expressive all the time. Before he could let out a single sound Mercy let herself fall forwards into his chest. Her head resting against one of his pectorals while her hand rested on his upper stomach.

Clint didn’t move a muscle as he felt her suddenly fall into him. A few seconds later he let out a breath he had no clue he had been holding and brought his arms up to wrap around her. It surprised him to no end that she let him hug her. When he had asked he was fully prepared for her to say no and reject him, even recoil, not throw herself into him. But he was infinitely glad she did, because having her around him so much and not being able to cuddle and hug her had been harder than anyone expected. Everyone was doing their damndest to give her space to get used to them, only offering small touches if she was starting to spiral, which she did frequently. But the Avengers pack was filled with physical people, all of them having had people in their past give them empty words and knives stabbed firmly in their backs (some literally). So physical touch and affection were how they all stayed grounded and stable.

A content sigh left his lips as he let himself hold her a bit more firmly against his body. The simple action melting the tension he held in his body. She was so soft and pliant, not in a bodily way, but in a way only an Omega could be with her mates. Even if her conscious self didn’t feel completely comfortable with them yet, somewhere in her unconscious brain she did. That thought made Clint smile broadly, knowing that somewhere in that jumbled mess of a head she had on her shoulders she trusted them.

Bruce cleared his throat off to the side. Watching with ever so slight amusement as Clint’s whole body jerked with surprise. “Should I mark that down on the board?” He said, amused that he could sneak up on his second assassin mate. Clint usually snuck up on Tony and Bruce for fun, so the three of them had a tally board holding score for the number of times they scared each other.

“That doesn’t count,” Clint muttered, earning a chuckle from the other Beta.

“It really does.” He mused before walking over to the couch, looking down at Mercy gently. “Do you think you’re up for letting me take you down to the lab so I can do your examination?” He asked cautiously, his features soft and patient as he smiled at her.

“Oh, yeah, yeah. We can do that now.” She said, pushing herself off of the couch and pocketing her phone. “I’ll see you later Clint.” Mercy said softly, giving him a gentle smile before following Bruce out of the pack floor.

  
  


After a few minutes in the elevator, they made it to the lab. When they stepped off Mercy’s eyes instantly started to scan the room curiously. There were many metal tables neatly spaced around the room, each of them having either a part of a project on them or a full one. Beakers and containers were carefully tucked away in glass cabinets, each of them filled with differently coloured liquids. A few of them had solid matter in the liquid but she didn’t know if it was a good idea to ask what they were.

While she gawked at the items in the room she somehow managed to still follow after Bruce. Until a vial of dull purple and blue liquid caught her eye, a black light sitting next to it that was currently turned off. Without further thought, Mercy turned and walked straight to the table. The color of the vial was familiar and she was curious as to what it was, so instinctively she reached for it.

“Ah-Ah.” Bruce scolded softly, watching as her hand instantly shot back to her side. Her eyes came to his in an apologetic expression. “It’s okay. I should have told you before you came down here, don’t touch anything. Some of these experiments are touchy.” He said, now approaching her.

Mercy nodded in understanding. “I’m sorry. I should have known better..” She chided herself softly before her gaze settled on the Vial once again. “It’s just… What is in there?” 

“That one has a liquid that is specifically made to hold UV rays. It’s thicker than water but thinner than gel in consistency. But it’s molecular makeup makes it so that light doesn’t just bounce through it like other liquids, it gets stuck. I was hoping if I had it take in the UV-A rays of the black light we’d actually be able to see the colour of UV light with the naked eye. Without artificial help.” Reaching out Bruce took the Vial and held it up to Mercy’s eye level. “But it doesn’t seem to be working because, as you can tell the liquid is still clear.”

Almost instantly her brow furrowed, her eyes looking at the vial in front of her. The liquid inside of it was obviously not clear, not by a long shot. There was purple and blue mixing together in the liquid, not a single speck wasn’t tinted in the same range of blue, let alone be clear. 

“Oh.” Mercy said finally. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her, making her see what she wanted. If Bruce said it was clear then it was clear, he was the scientist.

“Yeah, it’s just a fun side project I’m trying out. Nothing overly important.” He replied, setting the vial back into its holder before motioning to a door off to the right. “What is important is getting you examined.” He said with a smile, turning to walk to the room, Mercy dutifully following behind him, muddling through her confusion.

Once they got into the room Bruce locked the door behind himself. It was a normal run of the mill examination room, just without the excess chairs for family to sit in. The Omega looked around, taking in the setting that simply screamed sterile environment.

“Is this what a normal medical office looks like?” She asked softly as she approached the table in the middle of the room.

“At least here in America, it is. Why? Have you never been in a hospital before?” Bruce watched as she chewed on her lip and shook her head. “What happened when you got hurt when you were younger?”

Mercy fidgeted as she ran her hand over the leather of the table. “My parents... They would clean it out and stuff then just leave me to heal on my own... Even when I broke my arm when I was younger they put it in a sling and said I’d be fine.” She said, keeping her voice barely above a whisper. “I-I heal faster than normal so they never brought me in. Besides, we were always hiding, couldn’t really rush a child into the ER or anything.”

The room fell silent as Mercy simply stared at the table and Bruce tried to tamp down the anger he felt well inside of him. Her parents had, for the most part, neglected her medical needs. Who could do that to a child, someone of their own flesh and blood. Even if she had an accelerated rate of healing she still needed to be treated properly so everything healed right. He took a deep breath, counted to three, then let it go before opening his eyes. That was in the past, he shouldn’t be getting upset about things in the past, especially that far in the past. She was okay now, that’s all that mattered.

“Okay.” He finally said, breaking the silence. “Well can you please get up onto the table for me so I can start?” Mercy nodded and hopped up onto the leather table.

**Thursday, 2:30pm**

Clint walked into the pack living room, a plate of tortilla chips and salsa in his hands. When he walked into the room he noticed Bucky and Steve sitting on the couch. Bucky had a book in his hand while Steve was fixated on the show that was on the TV, his arm draped over the back of Bucky’s shoulders.

Seeing the two Alpha’s made a smug grin plaster itself on his lips. It showed in the way he walked as well, the swagger in his stride having caught the attention of Bucky.

“Did you finally win a match of rock, paper, scissors against Natasha?” He teased, a brow arching as the Beta walked towards the couch the pair was currently sitting on.

“Nope.” Clint said, pronouncing the ‘p’ with a soft pop as he set down his snack. Gracelessly he plopped himself into Steve’s lap, making the larger Alpha grunt from the sudden extra weight. But the Alpha more than welcomed the abrupt cuddling from him.

“You beat someone’s ass in a game then?” Steve inquired, his attention now being taken away from the TV due to Clint’s somewhat odd behavior.

Clint hummed at that before shaking his head. “No, no. I got a _long_ hug from Mercy.” He said before laying his head on Steve’s chest. The two Alpha’s glanced at each other before chuckling very lightly.

“While we’re happy she’s getting comfortable with someone, you seem way too happy about it.” Bucky accused skeptically, only getting a small shrug of the shoulders from the Beta in reply. He rolled his eyes at that, setting his book aside so he could lean forward and grab the unprotected plate of chips. Clint grumbled something about not sharing before simply huffing as Bucky made a show of crunching on one of the chips.

A few quiet minutes passed between the three of them. Clint clinging softly to Steve while he returned his attention to the TV and Bucky crunched away on the chips and salsa he stole. During those few minutes, Clint became increasingly confused. His gaze shifting from glowering at Bucky - hoping it would make the Alpha quit eating his snack- to looking at Steve with his brow knitted together slightly.

Steve noticed the confusion on the Beta’s face a moment later. Turning his head he met his gaze, raising a brow in question. “What?”

“Do you have a cold?” Clint blurted out.

“You know as well as anyone else in this tower that Bucky and I physically can’t get common sicknesses.” Steve pointed out, gaining a contemplating ‘hmm’ from Clint. After glancing at Bucky, who simply shrugged in response, Steve cleared his throat. “Do you mind explaining why you asked.”

“You haven’t scented me since I sat in your lap, neither of you have, which I find odd is all.” Clint said truthfully, shrugging his shoulders before repositioning his head so he could look at the TV. Steve simply sat there in shock, his bright blue and slightly green eyes wide at his Beta’s bluntness. It seemed his fellow Alpha was just as stunned as he noticed the distinct lack of chip crunching at his side. Once the two Alpha’s shook off their initial shock both of them shifted, sitting up a bit straighter before speaking. 

“Did you want us to scent you?” Bucky asked quietly, his Alpha telling him to do what was needed to comfort the Beta in front of him. Even though he didn’t show outward signs of distress, his statement said otherwise.

“Are you feeling left out? Have we neglected you?” Steve prodded softly, looking down at Clint with concerned eyes. “We love you, even with Mercy around we still want to make sure your needs are met.” The Alpha insisted softly.

Clint just stared at his two Alpha lovers, having to blink a few times to actually be able to process what just happened. “Okay, first of all, I don’t know where all that came from. Second of all, my _needs_ are being met just fine by you two, and the rest of the pack.” That made Bucky grin ever so slightly and a soft blush coloured Steve’s face. “I just said that because in the past when we’ve gotten a new mate or one of us didn’t scent like normal you two and Tony were all over us… Kinda the reason I came over here, to try and get a rise from you.” A yelp came from the Beta as Bucky pinched his calf in reprimand.

“You don’t smell like her though is the thing.” Steve pointed out after batting Bucky’s hand away from Clint. Saving him from further punishment for the time being. “How long did you hug her for?”

He shrugged. “About five to ten minutes. She had her head on my chest and everything.” As soon as Clint said that Steve pressed his nose to his neck, nudging softly at the crook of his neck, where the mingling scents would be the strongest if either of his mates scented the other. After a few quiet and still moments the Head Alpha pulled back, his concerned gaze meeting his fellow Alpha’s curious one. There was no trace that their Omega had ever touched him.

**Thursday, 2:45pm**

“Alright, we’re almost done,” Bruce said softly, smiling up at Mercy as he moved to grab another tool. This one was a metal rod with a thick triangle embedded into the top of it. “Just going to test your reflexes then draw some blood. Then we can leave this stuffy room.” He said with a small huff. Rolling his stool over to the edge of the bed where Mercy’s legs were dangling over the side. They had been in the examination room for almost a half-hour. The Omega in front of him seemed to have white coat syndrome, more than likely not caused by actual doctors since she never had medical care experience. So every time Bruce tried to grab for a new instrument she would recoil, a few times she even tried to run away. So the Beta took to slowly explaining each piece of equipment to her, watching as her fear melted away at the knowledge of knowing what it did.

“Oh um..” Mercy made a face. “For my legs, I’d suggest - Scooting over to the side.” Unease coated her voice and Bruce looked to her curiously but did as she said anyways. After tapping his own elbow with the instrument to show her what it would do he brought it down to her knee. As soon as the solid triangle head hit her knee it kicked out at the same speed she used when running. Leaving behind the infamous yellow streaks she left when running before settling back against the bed half a second later.

Bruce’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline as he watched, his interest peaked to a new degree with his little mate. “While I am really happy you moved me out of the way so I wouldn’t get super speeded to the chest - Did you know that was going to happen?” He inquired, leaning over to do the same to the other knee, watching it kick out in the same manner. 

Mercy shook her head slowly. “No - Well, yes - kinda of? I just,” She looked away as his eyes met hers, chewing her lip like she so often did when she was nervous. “So, this is going to probably sound weird. But I always feel the need to run.” She admitted quietly, slowly bringing her apprehensive eyes to meet his intrigued ones. The fact he didn’t recoil or make a move that showed he was judging her spurred her on. “Like I have all this pent up energy centered in my legs. Even walking normally is hard because all I wanna do is launch myself off into a thousand mile an hour dash.”

A small nod was all she got from him as he seemed to contemplate something for a long moment. Finally pulling himself out of his thoughts and humming softly. “I see. Well if you ever want to run like that I’m sure Tony would be more than happy to build you a treadmill that could withstand your speeds. He loves a challenge. Or we have an indoor track in the gym, you're welcome to use it.” He offered gently, turning to put away the tool he had before sighing and looking at her. “So this is the last part, it’s just taking a blood sample so I can check mineral, vitamin, hormone, and a lot of other levels in your body.”

She watched as he grabbed a kit from a nearby drawer. He set it down in her lap, almost instantly Mercy grabbed it. Holding it up to her face she looked at the butterfly needle. It was small and thin, didn’t seem like it’d hurt more than a pinch. As she explored the plastic tubes and thick rubber band, Bruce explained how he would withdraw her blood. Once she seemed satisfied Bruce got up, moving to wrap the band around his arm, but instantly stopped as she recoiled. Her eyes wide with a new wave of fear that she didn’t voice. A sigh left his lips. Who knew trying to acclimate someone to the modern-day and age was going to be so difficult. Not even Steve and Bucky were this apprehensive - and they lived through the freaking 20’s to the 40’s.

Setting the items aside he stepped away. “I’m going to be right back, okay? Don’t go anywhere.” With that, he stepped out of the room. When he came back, he held two manila folders in his hand as he approached. Taking one he set the other aside before pulling out a few pieces of paper. “This is Steve’s blood screening that I took two weeks ago after we got back from a mission.” He said, setting the papers in her hands as she looked them over. “See this? It tells me the amount of white and red blood cells he had at the time. So I could tell if he had any kind of infection or something compromising clotting.” Slowly he explained what each number meant. “Steve’s is terribly boring normally, so is Bucky’s. The serum keeps them pretty protected from a lot of things normal people have to worry about.”

After putting away the Alpha’s papers he grabbed the other folder, leaning in slightly to her as he whispered. “Don’t let Nat know I showed you this.” Pulling out the papers he held them out to her, pointing to a few key numbers. “This was taken a few months ago, she got rushed in because she got shot while we were on a mission.” Being sure to be vague so she didn’t know they had hunted down and infiltrated a HYDRA base. “Turns out the bullet was laced with a poison-”

“Viper poison.” Mercy suddenly spoke up. “It makes it so your blood clots, the point of it is to hopefully make it so a clot either causes an artery to close off and cause a heart attack or a blood clot will break off and work its way to the heart.” She said expertly, though her voice held a lot less emotion to it as she recited the information.

Bruce was absolutely speechless. While he wasn’t entirely sure as to how classified this information was, he knew it wasn’t just out for public knowledge. Maybe Mercy hadn’t been as sheltered from her parent's time in HYDRA as she let on. If that was the case, then the pack needed to tread lightly and prevent exposing her to any more HYDRA knowledge. 

Seeing the test results, and now having proof he wasn’t going to just use them for other purposes, Mercy looked to him and nodded. “Okay. You can take my blood now, I won’t pull away. Promise.” After handing him the papers, Bruce set to work wrapping her arm and finding a vein. They were quiet as he pricked her with the needle, the sudden pain forcing Mercy to voice a question she had been harboring. “Why is it some of my marks burn when you guys are around.”

A smile appeared on Bruce’s lips as he started filling one of the three vials he had set out. She felt comfortable enough with him to ask about their mate marks. “It happens when you first meet your mates, to kind of confirm that it’s actually them. Then after that, they burn until you have some kind of contact with them. Like reinforcing the point you need them. They also start to burn again if your separated from your mates for a long period of time after meeting them.” He informed gently, undoing the band as he pulled the third vial from the needle and took said needle out of her arm. Moving to hold a piece of cotton to the spot.

“Oh. That makes sense. My parents - for obvious reasons I guess - they never talked about the whole mate mark thing. When I presented they didn’t even flinch when they saw all the mate marks on my body.” The look in her eyes changed abruptly at the mention of her parents. A soft sadness taking over her silver irises. Reaching out Bruce cupped her cheek, letting his thumb caress the skin there softly.

“We don’t need to dwell on the past while you're here with us, Mercy. Any questions you have you can ask any one of us and we’ll do our best to give you the information you need. You’re safe here with us, don’t forget that.” He soothed gently, suppressing the urge to coo when he saw her give a warm smile. “Now let’s go back to the pack floor.”

**Thursday, 8:03pm**

Mercy sat on the couch with a plate of fettuccine alfredo in her lap, courtesy of Bruce. That was the first time she had seen the two Beta’s bump heads. Natasha had wanted to make a spicy Indian dish but Bruce argued they had spicy food way too often. After about two minutes of bickering, the two of them faced off in a food trivia match, refereed by the nearest Alpha who happened to be Bucky and he was none too happy to be in the middle of it. Ten minutes later and Bruce was humming an unfamiliar tune while he swayed around the kitchen, Nat sitting at the table with her arms folded and a pout on her lips.

That had been a half-hour ago, and now everyone was sitting in the pack living room. Tony was sitting in a large armchair off to the side, Bruce sitting in his lap as they seemed to go over some plans for new tech. Natasha and Clint were sitting on the floor, controllers in hand as they raced each other up on the TV. They both were very competitive people, anyone could glean that from how they pressed against each other's shoulders and were bodily pushing each other as the game went on, as if physically distracting each other would somehow give the other one an advantage. But the two showed their competitive streaks differently, with Clint huffing and grumbling loudly when he was set back while Natasha was either stoic or had a wide grin on her face as she looked to her fellow Beta Lover.

“Mercy,” Steve rumbled beside her, leaning forward so he could tap on her plate for the third time in the past ten minutes. “If you're too distracted to eat out here in the living room we can go sit in the kitchen till you're done.” He offered softly. Somehow when everyone had been settling into their spots in the living room Mercy ended up between the two Alphas she had been trying to avoid for the most part. Deep down she knew it wasn’t fair to them, they couldn’t help the fact that their hulking figures plus their naturally overpowering Alpha scent made her nervous. Well not so much nervous, more her Omega didn’t know what to do with Alphas around, Tony was a struggle to be around as it was, adding these two to the mix was just cruel to such an inexperienced Omega like herself.

“A-ah.” Mercy stuttered, looking down at her plate and noticing for the first time that she had only eaten a fourth of what had been given to her. “I’m just... Not very hungry right now.” She admitted softly, her fingers fiddling with the fork she had.

“Is it cause it’s cold? Cause I know I don’t like cold food.” Bucky asked from her other side, leaning ever so slightly closer to her. All he got was a small shake of the head. In all honesty she was hungry, Mercy swore up, down, left and right that her stomach was a bottomless pit. No matter how much she ate nothing would ever make her feel full, but their presence was making her stomach churn. This was really unfair to them, all of them had been exceedingly kind to her over the past few days she’d been here, especially the two super soldiers at her sides. She was sure they could sense her discomfort when it came to them, and they had made such an effort to be gentle and slow so she could adjust. But it wasn’t just her Omega that didn’t know how to approach them, it was her own self that didn’t know how to as well. Everyone in this room had a history with HYDRA, and the two men beside her seemed to have some of the stronger connections with them. Seeing as they brainwashed and abused Bucky, not to mention they kinda robbed him of his arm. Steve seemed to feed off of that abuse, being directly affected by Bucky’s mood swings or sudden bouts of sadness or melancholy. This all simply made these two Alphas more of a daunting task to tackle than it should be.

“Alright. I’ll wrap this up for you, then if you do get hungry later on tonight you can just heat it up.” Steve said before very carefully extracting the plate and utensil from Mercy’s grasp before getting up and disappearing into the kitchen. He came back empty-handed a few minutes later and reclaimed his spot next to the Omega. Silence washed over the pack room, except for the whoops and grumbles from Clint and the very soft whispering from Tony and Bruce off to the side.

Mercy fidgeted in her spot as she glanced at the two men next to her. Even with their large frames they made sure to give her as much space between them as possible. Both of them opting to lean against the armrests of the couch rather than sit up straight. “S-Steve..” Mercy started off, her voice no more than a mousey squeak as her eyes looked up into his once he turned to face her. His eyes wide with surprise and his body rigid, as if any other sudden movement would make her flee like a startled deer. “Could you - um - Explain your guys’ pack dynamic to me?”

Without meaning to, Steve let out a long sigh of relief. “Of course.” He said with a soft smile before using his foot to subtly nudge Natasha who instantly paused the game, earning a few choice words from Clint before he looked to Mercy as well. “So, as you could probably tell I’m Head Alpha, seconded by Tony,” There was a small acknowledging noise made to the side. “Then Bucky is third. We let the Beta’s figure out their own hierarchy.” He said before looking to Natasha who seemed to light up ever so slightly as she looked at Mercy.

“We were going to do the normal age ranking system, but because of the big guy, Bruce didn’t want to be head Beta. _So_ ” Nat looked at Clint with a very small grin, forcing the Beta to stick his tongue out in retaliation. The small scene made Mercy giggle softly, the sound making everyone in the room’s heart flutter and suddenly all eyes were back on her. “Much to Clint’s chagrin, I am Head Beta, seconded by Clint then Bruce.”

A very small smile was on Mercy’s lips as she nodded, taking in the information. “Okay. Where would I fit in this dynamic then?”

“You would be at the bottom, after Bruce,” Bucky informed gently, scooting slightly closer to Mercy when her attention was pulled to him. “Not because we think you're weak or because you're new or anything like that. But because Omega’s naturally need more structure and have more sensitive rules normally than Betas or Alphas. So you’d need more people to make sure to enforce them.” 

Mercy nodded once again, giving herself a few moments to take in what they said. “Do you guys do rules and punishments? My parents pack never… They never really did that..” Her voice tapered off much like it had earlier in the examination room when she was talking to Bruce. No matter how long it had been since she left, it always hurt to think of them because honestly, she missed them dearly, no matter what organization was attempting to hunt them down.

“Yes, we do. We already have established pack rules, along with personal rules that we all make sure to enforce onto each other.” Steve said, glancing between his pack mates before looking at Mercy. “And we do punishments if you don’t follow the rules set out for the pack or your own rules. The punishments vary depending on what you did.” Steve stated his voice firm and leaving no room for arguments as he looked to his other mates who simply nodded.

“Okay. That's.. Cool?” Mercy said, scrunching up her face as she tried to find something fitting to say in response. A few of her mates chuckled and her face flushed red slightly. “So, will I get rules and stuff?”

“When you go with the Old Man to the courthouse and do the paperwork to say you're our Soulmate then you’ll officially be a part of the pack. Then you’ll get your own set of Omega rules.” Tony chimed in suddenly, making everyone look to him before Bucky spoke up.

“As much as we want you to be a part of our pack officially we aren’t going to push you to do it until you're ready. It took the six of us almost half a year to get everyone all fitted out with the paperwork.” He assured gently, watching as the slight worry in the Omega’s eyes melted away.

After a moment Mercy looked to her mates and smiled. “Thank you. For answering my questions, I know they were kind of out of the blue. But I just want to get a handle on everything before I make this permanent.” Everyone seemed to sit up a bit straighter at that, even Bruce who had been leaning back against Tony the whole time. She wasn’t considering leaving them, which was something they all frequently worried about, no she was preparing herself to be with them. That made a collective, but silent, purr run through the Alphas and the Betas preened excitedly.

“We’re your mates, котёнок, you can ask us anything.” Natasha said softly, smiling fondly up at the Omega.

Mercy couldn’t help but smile down at her. Maybe Nat wasn’t so scary after all, not with that smile on her face. Well no, she shouldn’t downplay her mate’s lethality. But still, the way she looked at her was as if she was a part of her world now. Not some outsider that she was letting in like Mercy had felt like she was many times. With that thought in mind, she let her eyes wander between the three Alphas in the room, all of which had their eyes trained on her at that very moment. Each of them had the same degree of fondness in them, and they all looked at her like she was one of the most precious things in the world. She’d seen the look before when one of the others would do something that made them laugh or do something endearing. Even without the paperwork, they all seemed to already regard her as pack, and all she had to do was let them into the walls she had built in around her. Then she’d see them as more than her Soulmates she thought she’d never be able to meet, she’d see them as her new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm not going to lie I don't feel very good about this chapter.  
> I was trying to set somethings up for some future plot stuff, and I'm also trying not to make this fic go super slow for your guy's sake on the relationship end.  
> This is what I came up with, no my best work but, I hope you enjoyed it at least a little!
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> котёнок - Kitten (Kah-Cho-Luck)


	5. Secrets

**Friday, 9:42am**

Tony strode into the pack living room, a coffee cup in hand as he moved to sit on the couch between Steve and Bucky. Bruce was standing at the front of the room, a coffee table’s width away from them. He’d called for all of the Alpha’s to meet with him privately in the living room at around six am after going down to his lab. Tony wasn’t up so they pushed it until the billionaire finally graced the tower with his fully aware presence.

“So what was so important that I needed to wake up before ten am?” Tony groused before bringing the scalding cup of coffee to his lips and taking a sip. He let out a hum at the taste but also winced due to the heat. This prompted Steve to swiftly take the cup and set it on the coffee table in front of him. “Hey give that back.” He demanded, leaning forward to reclaim the cup.

Steve quickly swatted his hand away, making the smaller Alpha glare at him. “No, you don’t focus when you have a coffee cup in your hand.” He pointed out, raising a brow when Stark mumbled a small ‘don’t focus without it either’. “You’ll get it back after Bruce tells us what he needs.” The Head Alpha gained a small exasperated huff but Tony stopped arguing nonetheless. No matter how much Steve’s mothering irritated him, he was still Head Alpha and had no problem disciplining his fellow Alphas to get them to listen. Tony experienced this first hand many, many times.

A throat clearing caught everyone's attention. “Bruce, what’cha got for us?” Bucky prompted, making the Beta in front of them shuffle the papers in his hands.

“Okay. So I did Mercy’s examination yesterday and I found some things that I thought you guys would like to know.” He said, watching as the two super soldier Alphas instantly scooted closer to him, giving him their full attention. While Tony was still somewhat sulking and looking longingly at the steaming cup of dark liquid. “First, she’s malnourished.” He said, looking over the papers in front of him.

Steve tilted his head slightly in question. “Was it on purpose? Do you think she needs to see Dr.Cho about an eating disorder?”

“What do we need to do in order to get her healthy again?” Bucky asked immediately after. Bruce looked between the two Alphas, shaking his head.

“I don’t think it was on purpose. Whenever she eats here she eats everything we give her usually. But,” Bruce flipped through the papers for a second before landing on the one he was looking for. “I think it’s from her metabolism.” He stated, watching as Bucky and Steve scrunched their brow in confusion while Tony just looked at him, waiting for him to continue. “You two,” He waved at his super soldier Alphas. “Have increased metabolism because of the serum. That’s what leads you to eat three plates full of food at any given meal. Mercy has the same thing but to a much greater degree. I believe it is due to her speed mutation. I saw the same results in Pietro’s tests, but his powers came from HYDRA experiments so his wasn’t as extensive as hers.” Bruce looked to his mates expectantly but they all simply looked at him, waiting.

“So.” Tony pressured.

Bruce sighed and reached up, taking the glasses he had resting on the bridge of his nose off and fiddling with them. “Basically her body is burning way more calories than she is putting in so it’s eating away at its fat reserves and then is going to attack the muscle in order to be able to create enough energy to keep her alive.” He stated softly.

The scent of three worried Alphas suddenly engulfed the room, each one regarding Bruce with varying degrees of concern. All of them seemed to take a breath at the exact same time, but before they could bombard him with questions the Beta put out his hands to stop them. “She’s not at that point yet.” He defended. “She still has proper motor function and when I looked her over there was only a marginal amount of body distortion. But she’s also under weight..” He trailed off, looking at the Alphas expectantly. Steve brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose while Bucky tapped his fingers along the arm rest anxiously, a scowl appearing on his face. Tony on the other hand was obviously a little lost as his brow furrowed, glancing between his Alpha mates.

Steve simply sighed before he looked at Tony. “You didn’t actually read those books I gave you on Omegas did you?” He asked pointedly.

The other Alpha had the decency to look a little ashamed. “No. I thought that if I needed more information on the situation FRIDAY would tell me.” He said, looking away ever so slightly before yelping as Bucky swatted the back of his head. He grumbled before reaching back and rubbing at the now sore spot at the back of his skull.

“When a ‘mega is sick or not in proper health durin’ their heats it can cause a variety of problems durin’ that time. Along with the fact they’re more likely to drop.” Bucky mumbled, making Tony nod in understanding.

“Speaking of heats…” Bruce spoke up, watching as all three Alphas looked at him intently. It was like the room was suddenly charged with electric tension as the Alphas waited for their Beta to continue. The Beta swallowed a bit nervously, his fingers tapping and rubbing along the papers in his hands. “I need you all to stay calm after I tell you this. You can’t just storm out of here.” The Beta said, a warning lacing its way into his words.

“Bruce-” Steve began.

“No, you have to promise me when I say this none of you will leave this room until you're calm.” He said resolutely, somewhat surprising the three men in front of them. But they all nodded in agreement, simply wishing for their mate to divulge the sensitive information. Bruce took a small breath before speaking again. “Mercy is on suppressants, and from the looks of her hormones she has been for some time.”

The room was silent as the three Alphas looked at him with wide eyes. The electric tension in the air only growing thicker with each passing second. No one dared to move, especially Bruce. Suppressants for Omega’s weren’t illegal, though they might as well be with all the backlash they got if they used it. But still, the drug was simply taboo at this point. Their pack had expressed their distaste for them almost immediately after getting settled together. Bucky had been forced to be on them while at HYDRA so they didn’t have to deal with his ruts. So his absolute distaste for the drug was bone deep.

“That explains why she has lacked a scent.” Steve suddenly said after a few minutes of tense silence. It wasn’t as strong in the air now, each Alpha seeming to have been able to use the silence to calm themselves. At least enough to not want to storm out of the room and confront their new mate. 

Tony’s eyes snapped up from the spot on the floor he’d been staring at. Meeting Steve’s before speaking. “You noticed that too?” The Head Alpha nodded.

“Yes Clint came over to Bucky and I to boast, as he does, because he got a prolonged hug from her” Steve said with a small snort. “But he didn’t have any other scent on him but himself. After that Buck and I started paying a bit more attention to her when she was in the room.”

“An unmated ‘mega her age should be pumpin’ out pheromones like crazy. Especially when around us. Remember when I first met with you guys? Thought you guys were goin’ to start wearin’ gas masks for the first two weeks there.” Bucky spoke softly, though his voice held a sharp edge to it as he strained to keep his Alpha’s irritation in check for the time being.

Tony nodded slowly, his gaze going from Steve to Bucky a few times before asking. “We need to go tell her to stop taking them.” He said resolutely. Bucky went to speak up on the matter as well, only to be cut off before even making a sound.

“No.” Steve said firmly, his Captain voice bleeding in through the edges of his words.

“No?” Tony questioned.

“No we aren’t going to confront her about this.” Steve said as he turned his attention to Tony, whose lips were pressed in a tight line.

“We’re not?” Tony said, irritation forcing tension to mix into his voice. “Did we not have a whole discussion a while back when we were settling in about suppressants? We don’t want them in the pack. There’s no need for them, all they do is hurt the person and cause said person to lie to those around them.” He said, his voice dropping into a challenging growl.

Steve looked to the Alpha in front of him. The growl causing him to straighten his back, reacting instinctively to the challenge posed to him. “We did.” He growled back, his ever so slightly deeper than Tony’s enough to make his chest rumble from the sound. “She is still learning to put her trust in us right now. If we push our wants on her right now we might scare her into running.” He said lowly eyes staring intensely into his Alpha mates eyes, who showed no signs of backing down.

“Why should we bend our ideas just so she can get comfortable with a fake version of her new pack?” Tony snarled, his lips curling back slowly to show his distaste and baring his white teeth at his Head Alpha. “This is what we want in our pack. She should learn what we expect from her right away. Otherwise we are simply letting her get away with basically lying to our faces. We might already know she’s an Omega but she’s hiding away all of her true instincts from everyone one of us.” Tony said before shifting slightly so he was facing Steve more, puffing out his chest in defiance.

The act made the Alpha in Steve snarl and snap its teeth menacingly at his fellow mate. The two of them have had many power struggles over the few years their pack had been together. It was kind of to be expected with two Alphas being in the pack (now three), not to mention their personalities didn’t always compliment each other. So the occurrence of them bumping heads was something of a commonality. But at the end of the day Steve was Head Alpha, unanimously voted upon with his mates and Tony knew that deep down below the defiant nature he had.

Without another thought Steve reached out, his large hand cupping the back of Tony’s head before his fingers tangled in the brunette's short hair. Sharply he yanked his head back slightly, watching as the growl in his chest dimmed in slight submission. “It maybe givin’ her a pass on the subject for now, but I’d rather that than force her to run away from us. Trust me, I want to punish her as much as you probably do for usin’ them around us, but she’s not our pack yet, not officially - and until I stand in that courthouse with her, signing the papers that will legally keep her bound to us, I will  _ not _ risk losing our Omega.” Steve snapped in Tony’s face, snarling with unbridled anger as he looked at the smaller Alpha in his arms. When Stark nodded in understanding, the challenge now completely gone from his eyes, Steve leaned his head down. A low growl rumbling in his chest before he let his teeth sink into the side of Tony’s neck, not enough to draw blood, but enough to make him whimper his submission and for Steve to make a lasting point. 

The whole time Bucky watched with slight fear and apprehension. He’d seen these two go at each other before only a few times, but never this close. He was of two minds about the argument as well. Understanding where Tony was going from (having had a first hand experience with suppressants) but also knowing Steve would only do what was best for the pack. So the Alpha decided to stay out of it for now, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t prepared to jump in if things started to get ugly. It was only when he heard a small concerned groan from in front of him that he tore his eyes away from the two other Alphas. 

Bruce stood a few extra feet away from the three Alphas on the couch, his hand currently pressing against his forehead as his head lulled forward. The veins and arteries on his neck standing out against his pale skin. The normally red walls painted themselves green, the familiar feel of power coursing through him. He normally avoided as much conflict as he could, the Hulk being unpredictable and easy to coax out due to the spike of anxiety Bruce naturally felt when around it. He would have left the room already if he didn’t think it would have furthered the argument between his two Alpha mates. It didn’t help that the Hulk was also an Alpha, so any fight between them made him rear his head. So now he was stuck struggling to keep his worst experiment from releasing itself.

The sight of Bruce forced Bucky to spring up from the couch, having caught a glimpse of the green coursing through his veins. Not caring if he jostled Tony in the process he rushed to Bruce’s side, much to his protests. “Hey Baby.” He soothed gently, his voice low and quiet as he looked at the struggling Beta in front of him. Reaching out he wrapped both of his arms around Bruce’s chest, pulling him into his own. He could feel his body go tense in his arms, but all Bucky did was shush him, his flesh hand running along the exposed skin of his arm. “You’re okay. Can ya do your breathin' exercises for me?” Bucky coaxed, starting to produce a deep rumbling sound in his chest, the Alpha was purring for his Beta. After a few minutes he could feel Bruce relax slightly in his arms, causing a hum to come out between his purrs. “Doin’ great baby. You need me to get Nat to sing that lullaby of hers?” He asked quietly, gaining a shake of the head from the Beta in his arms. “Alright. Just hold on for us, will ya? I know our big Alphas over there are pumping out pheromones like Hell. But we need you a little longer before you can go and bury yourself in work again, okay?” Bruce nodded once again, gaining a soft purr of contentment from Bucky.

When Steve finally pulled his teeth from Tony’s neck his anger had been completely sapped from his body. Looking up at Tony he placed a soft kiss against his cheek. “You’re getting a punishment later for that, don’t think you're off the hook yet.” The Head Alpha rumbled before pulling himself away from him, turning to look at Bucky only to find him missing. Instantly he looked around the room, spotting him holding Bruce close and the soft sound of his purring finally registering in his once anger filled brain. Steve froze ever so slightly as he realized what happened, the instinct to help care for one of his Betas making him move to get up off the couch. But in that instant Bucky caught his gaze, and if looks could kill Steve was sure he’d had dropped dead. Bucky hated seeing any of his mates in distress, even more so when it was caused by their fellow mates, which seemed to happen more than he would like to admit. So the fact that the two top Alphas caused this made him disappointed in them, and livid. 

Steve took that look at face value and settled back into the couch, him and Tony looking away sheepishly with varying degrees of disappointment on their faces. After a few soothing minutes Bucky gently pulled Bruce from his body, holding him at arm’s length as his eyes roved over his body. A few ‘you okay?’ and ‘yeah’ were exchanged between them before Bucky placed a soft kiss on Bruce’s lips, his attention turning back to the two pouting Alphas on the couch. Though he made no move to completely leave the Beta’s side, seeing as he was gripping his hand far too tightly to be wanting to be completely alone right now.

“Verdict?” Bucky said gruffly.

“Are they harming her, Brucie?” Tony asked very quietly, his voice no more than a gentle whisper as he looked up at him.

Looking through the papers once more he shook his head. “She didn’t have any previous blood work done so I’m not sure what her normal levels are. They might be making things speed up some depending on what type of suppressant she is on. But in my professional opinion I don’t think they're harming her.”

“Then we won’t take action until she is officially pack. For now, we will act as if we don’t know this information, business as usual.” Steve said, letting his Captain voice carry through the command.

**Two Weeks Later, Sunday, 2:55pm**

Mercy sat comfortably on the black leather couch of the guest floor, legs tucked comfortably under herself. In her lap lay a thick leather back notebook, the pages made of thick and stiff paper that felt rough to the touch. She ran her fingers over the blank page in front of her for what seemed like the thirtieth time that day alone. This was one of her parents' journals, from their time at HYDRA. Mercy had always found it odd that her parents kept journals, weren’t they supposed to be keeping this information classified? What struck her as even more odd was the fact that when they told her to leave they shoved a small file box full of them into her arms on the way out of the door. There were at least ten more notebooks in the box hidden under her bed. 

That had been a struggle for her to keep away from her nosy mates. About a week ago everyone had helped her move all of the stuff she had (albeit a very small amount of stuff). Out of curiosity a few of them nosed around her belongings, namely Natasha and Tony. Mercy didn’t overly mind since she would be living with them and really had nothing to hide. She’d been slowly building her trust in them and their trust in her. It was after Natasha had scowled at Mercy’s panty collection, saying they desperately needed to go shopping for a new wardrobe, that Bucky pulled the box out from behind a small pile of clothes in her closet. Tony had taken the box from him, interest piqued, as he opened the top of it, revealing the many leather back notebooks inside.

“Hey Dash,” He’d taken to calling her that nickname after he saw she was becoming more comfortable in his presence. “What are all these?” He’d asked, and the moment Mercy turned around to see her mates holding the books her parents gave her, it felt like the world had suddenly gone still. It was the first time since they had chased her down that she used her speed around them, having opted to do her best to keep it under wraps. When she did, she all but yanked the box from his hands holding it tightly to her chest, the next second she was cowered in a corner. Her eyes wide with fear as a soft protective yet unsure whine left her throat glancing between each one of her mates, who had become deathly still. There was a moment of still silence between them all before Steve and Bucky looked to each other and simply nodded. They seemed to do that a lot, where they just looked at each other for a moment and suddenly they knew what the other meant. 

“It’s okay.” Bucky said softly, putting his hands up in front of himself non-threateningly.

“We didn’t know they were special. We won’t touch them again without permission Sweetheart, right?” Steve had said, his voice tight as he looked at Tony sternly. The other Alpha simply nodded, his eyes wide with what seemed like surprise and slight amount of worry. After that, no one nosed around her personal items again and they brought it all up to the guest floor. Though, none of her mates were very keen on her still sleeping on the guest floor since she was moving in. Each of them took their turn to try and convince her to move into the pack floor with them, but each time Mercy had given each of them a soft smile and a few laughs at their gentle attempts. For now she just wanted to stay on the guest floor, she was still trying to get her bearings with the pack, not to mention suddenly having a pack to be with.

Sadly that encounter had been one of the last major encounters she’d had with her mates. After that day they had been called out for mission after mission. Not just one or two of them, no, the whole Avengers crew had to leave. The worst part was that none of them could tell her anything about what they were doing. While it wasn’t a surprise due to her background and the fact she wasn’t an Avenger herself, it was still unpleasant, not knowing where they were or if they were going to be in life or death situations. Well, she supposed they always were, that was kind of their thing. So that’s how she found herself alone on the guest floor, with all of the other residential levels on lock down, except for her own floor and the pack floor. One of the books she was told never to read in her lap and a flashlight in the other. Not because it was dark on her floor, but because that was the only way to see the dark blue and purple ink that was hidden on the blank pages. 

“Miss Wessex, It’s 3pm, it is important for you to eat one of the meals Dr. Banner has prepared for you.” FRIDAY suddenly announced, making Mercy sigh as she closed the book in her lap and set down the items in her hands on the coffee table.

“Right, right… Are you ever going to be able to tell why my eating habits are being monitored?” Mercy questioned softly, asking the AI for the hundredth time even though she knew the answer she would get.

“I apologize Miss Wessex, but you are not authorized to have that information. All I am allowed to inform you is --”

“It’s to help me stay healthy and maintain a proper weight. Yeah, yeah, I know.” Mercy muttered irritably as she made her way to the elevator. It happened all of the sudden two weeks ago. Mercy had just woken up a little before 9am, and just as she was making her way to the bathroom the AI had spoken up, telling her much the same thing as she just did a moment ago. Then it had happened at 3pm, then again at 8pm, and in between the AI would recommend snacks for Mercy to eat. FRIDAY did that everyday for the past two weeks, not to anyone else just Mercy, even though her pack-mates were always present during the times she ate, if they weren’t busy. She’d learned early on that purposely skipping a meal was met with a very irritated set of Alphas crossing their arms and scowling at her while ushering her to the kitchen to eat, even if she did protest heavily. That was the one and only thing in the whole time she’d been with them that they seemed to not want to give her leniency with.

Once the elevator dinged and opened onto the pack floor she headed straight for the kitchen. She’d already been up here for a while earlier, simply watching TV and sitting in the pack-room, curled up in a big fluffy light brown blanket that scented of Bucky and Clint. The more she stayed around them all the more she found their scents comforted her, made her feel safe. A few days ago, while they were gone, Mercy had ventured into the pack bedroom. It had been the first time she stepped foot into the room, only getting a few glimpses of the inside whenever someone walked in or out. Not that she was kept out of it, she was sure any one of them would be ecstatic to be the first person to show her around. After ignoring the fact there was a bottle of lube on the side table and a few various toys she didn’t know the names of, she had crawled into the bed. It was soft and plush, nothing less than what you’d expect for Tony Stark to have in his own building. But it also smelled pleasantly like all of them, their scents mingling together in the air as well as being embedded into the fabric. It all simply screamed home and safe, and before she knew it Mercy had passed out in their bed, cuddling what she assumed was Natasha’s pillow to her chest.

Opening the fridge she hummed and took out a few of the containers that were in there, each labeled accordingly: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Nat and Bruce, before they left on their mission and even though they came home for a few hours intermittently, had worked together to make pre-made portions for her to eat while they were gone. Apparently they were heavily packed with protein, carbs and fats, which according to them was something she needed in large amounts. Again they refused to say why she was suddenly getting a revamped diet, all of them looking to Steve who simply said it was the best for her health. If it was best for her health then why were they being so weird and vague about it. With a soft sigh Mercy took one of the containers and opened it, transferring the contents onto a plate she had grabbed from the cabinets. Food now heated up she headed for the pack room, where she retrieved the fluffy light brown blanket she had used earlier and cocooned herself into it. But left enough space for her to set the plate in her lap so she could eat and watch TV.

  
  


Twenty minutes later Mercy heard a very soft  _ ding _ come from the hallway and instantly she turned her head. She could hear voices, starting soft as they slowly grew in volume, seeming to be heading to the pack room.

“All I’m saying is if you gave me two more seconds I could have blown it up myself.” Clint said with a small huff.

“If I didn’t we might not have gotten out of there quick enough.” Chided Natasha as the two Betas strode into the pack room, the rest of the pack behind them as they rounded the corner into the living room. The two Betas stopping as they looked at Mercy. Who currently had herself turned towards the door, blanket drawn in snug against her body, fork paused in her mouth and her silver eyes wide with slight surprise. All her mates were still in their battle gear. While she has seen some footage of them fighting before she had never seen their gear up close, her pack purposely making sure not show it off to her just in case it made her uncomfortable. But it seemed like they either forgot or simply didn’t expect for her to be perched in the living room upon arrival. 

It didn’t take long for one of them to speak, that person being Tony. “Well don’t you look cozy.” He pointed out as he pushed between Clint and Nat. He was the only one (besides Bruce) not wearing a body of tactical armor that looked to be made of mostly Kevlar, sporting a black t-shirt with white sleeves and dark blue jeans. 

Mercy blushed softly before ducking her head down and pulling the fork from her mouth. Her face was burning with embarrassment when Tony hooked his finger under her chin, gently lifting it so she would look into his brown eyes. A soft smile pulling at his lips as he gazed at her.

“I’m glad to see you eating.” He hummed to her as the rest of the pack disappeared into the bedroom, presumably to shower and get changed.

She nodded slowly. “Are you guys done with missions?” 

Tony smiled gently, hesitantly bringing his hand up to run it through her hair. When Mercy didn’t pull away or flinch at his touch, he continued. “As far as we know, we are done for the time being.” He said, watching as his young mate’s silver eyes lit up at the knowledge. The small action made Tony’s heart flutter knowing she was happy they would be home. They were getting somewhere with her. “But,” He started again. “We need to do a debriefing with the Pirate. That may take a few hours, Capsicle in there likes to be overly detailed.” Tony said with a small snort. The team had taken to using code names to indicate Fury’s presence, seeing as the first time Mercy had heard his name she bolted from the room, fearing flitting over her face. She even went so far as asking FRIDAY to lock down the guest floor and hide in her room. Of course Tony and Steve both had clearance to override the command so it was easy enough to go in and comfort her. But still, they wanted to avoid triggering anything from her past that was stressful to her, especially since the Omega was as tight lipped as a clam about her past.

“Oh.” Mercy said, disappointment oozing from her words as her eyes fell to the almost empty plate in her lap.

“Hey, look at me please.” Tony asked softly, watching as she did as he asked almost instantly. “We aren’t going to leave again though. We’ll be back and I’m sure we’ll be back by dinner time. Bruce was really excited to cook for all of us again.” He soothed, watching as the disappointment wiped itself from her face slowly.

“Okay.” She said with a soft smile. Watching as the Alpha leaned down and tapped her plate lightly.

“Finish that up and then occupy yourself for a while. Can you do that for me Darling?” Tony asked, gaining a small submissive nod that made him let out a satisfied rumble. He watched with slight intrigue as the deep sound made Mercy blush brighter than he’d ever seen. That was even with having accidentally run into Bucky lounging in only a towel after a shower one day, quite the thing to have to compete against.

With a very light kiss to the top of her head Tony left her to join the rest in the pack room. When he left she smiled ever so slightly as she looked down at the food left on her plate. They were back. She hadn’t noticed it before but she had genuinely missed their presence. Using her fork she stabbed some of her food and popped it into her mouth. 

  
  


**Sunday, 8:06pm**

Mercy sat between Bucky and Natasha at the dinner table, which had become her designated seat after everyone seemed to notice how easy it was for her to disconnect from the conversation if she sat at the end. But she felt a little bad about it, because she kicked Clint out of his normal spot and now he was sitting on the opposite end of the table beside Bruce. 

“Oh come on Tony, it wouldn’t kill you to at least look at the damn thing.” Clint huffed irritably between bites.

“I’m telling you, I know my own tech. The only reason the arrow snapped was because you man handled it  _ after _ the fact I told you it was still a work in progress.” Tony grumbled, stabbing a piece of meat a little too harshly.

“No I didn’t. I pulled it out the way I normally do.” Clint argued before leaning to the side where no one sat. A moment later the archer retrieved a metal arrow from the floor, holding it up as he appraised it for a moment before looking at Tony. “Just look at it. I’m telling you it’s more fragile than you think.” He said before starting to reach over, around Bruce, to hand the billionaire his own piece of tech.

“Ah.” Steve suddenly chided, his eyes narrowing in on Clint. “No weapons at the table, this is supposed to be a technology free zone.” He said firmly, moving to dig his fork into the food on his plate once again.

“I’m already halfway to giving it to him.” Clint argued.

“You shouldn’t have been a fourth of the way to begin with. Now put it away.” Steve said, watching with mild amusement dancing in his blue eyes as the Beta simply stiffened his body in protest. “Clint, I’ve no problem with makin’ everyone pause eatin’ to pull you into the living room and discipline you.” The Head Alpha warned softly. “You don’t see Nat bring her guns to the table, or me with my shield.”

Clint paused for a moment, his protests faltering for a few moments before he used the arrow in his hand to point at Bucky. More specifically Bucky’s bionic arm. “Barnes brings his everywhere.” The Beta whined. Mercy couldn’t hold back the snicker that left her throat at the comment, quickly tilting her head down towards her chest to try and hide it from the rest of the table. It did little to help cover it up, having a table full of super soldiers and assassins made it hard to hide anything audible (and inaudible for that matter). 

Steve opted to hold his tongue for now as everyone glanced at each other, slightly surprised to hear Mercy openly laughing. Normally she was silent at the table, only speaking when someone asked her a question directly. So hearing her laugh made everyone pause and take in the moment for what it was. Until Bucky turned in his seat, reaching his vibranium arm out to grasp her chin and guide her to look at him.

“What’s got you laughin’ so pretty Doll-face?” He asked, his voice dropping to just above a purr. 

The moment Mercy made eye contact with Bucky her face reddened slightly. Her normally pale complexion turning a gentle pink. Hastily she glanced to the side, her eyes meeting Bruce’s as she quietly begged him to help. But all she got in response was a small shrug and a teasing smile before returning to his food. “I um.. I just thought.. Clint’s comment was funny.” She said meekly, her large silver eyes looking into his soft blue-grey ones. 

“Oh really?” Bucky purred out to her, the sound rumbling deep in his chest as it caused a soft shiver to roll through Mercy’s body. There was a moment of quiet as Bucky’s eyes flick up at a point behind Mercy, more than likely Natasha before he brought them back to Mercy, a gentle chuckle ripping its way through his throat. “Sorry Doll. You just look so pretty when your blushin’ like that.” He conceded, pulling his metal hand away from a now slightly scowling Mercy.

Steve just shook his head at his mate's antics, though a fond and affectionate smile was painted on his face. “Clint, you still need to put away the arrows.” There was a small grumble followed by a clatter as the metal hit the tiled floor. Steve hummed in satisfaction as the table went back to the normal chatter. 

“We should go on a vacation.” Tony said, looking up and around the table as he pushed a piece of vegetable into his mouth. 

“Stark-” Steve began

“No, no, just for a day or two. Hear me out” Tony cut in, looking to him with pleading eyes. “We’ve all worked our asses off on those missions the past few days. We deserve a break - and I’m sure Mercy over there would like the time to see us without our ‘Avengers’ facade up all the time even at the tower.”

“Where would we even go right now Tony? It’s the middle of June. I’m pretty sure normal people go out on vacations right now. Not very low profile.” Natasha said, glancing at Bucky who seemed to have bristled at the idea of being around so many unknown people.

The Second in command Alpha simply grinned. “I have a beach house. It’s in a secluded area, private land for miles, we’ll be good there.” Tony offered smugly, earning a small ‘of course you do’ from Nat in return. There seemed to be a small collective sigh from everyone at the table, but ultimately everyone caved to the Alphas whims.

“Mercy, you’re okay with this, right?” Questioned Steve as he looked at her.

She offered a smile in reassurance. “I would love to come with.”

"Great!" Tony yapped. "We leave tomorrow then!"

**Sunday, 9:47pm**

Fury grunted irritably as he rolled over in bed, forcing himself to ever so gently untangle his arms from around Hill. The sound of his phone having woken him up. Once he was sure his Omega wasn’t going to be disturbed by his movements he rolled over, grabbing the black flip-phone from the nightstand and pressing it to his ear.

“Someone important better be dead for you to be bothering me at home.” Growled the Alpha.

“I thought you would have been more excited to finally hear from us, Nick.” Taunted a soft feminine voice from the other end.

The sound of the woman’s voice made Fury sit up in his bed, a small sigh coming from him. “I’d be more excited if you kept in touch more often, Ruth.” He accused.

The woman named Ruth tsked ever so softly into the phone. “It’s hard to play both fields you know. Especially if you are forced to keep tabs on one side regularly.” She hummed, forcing Fury to grunt irritably before a small amount of silence fell between them. “How is she?” Ruth asked abruptly.

“I’m assuming she’s alright. They found her, called me and asked for a ‘grace period’. To show she’s not like you.” Fury responded flatly.

Ruth snorted. “You’re doing your job well then, if even the Avengers think we’re on the side of HYDRA.” She hummed thoughtfully, tapping her fingers along the armrest of the chair she was sitting in. “Are they treating her well? I’m sure she’s had trouble adjusting, going from being cared for by us, then you, then them.”

Fury let out a small breath. “I didn’t take her in.” There was a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the phone. 

“I’m sorry, I think I heard you wrong Nick. Did you say you  _ didn’t _ take care of my child like we agreed?” Ruth snapped hotly, her teeth gritting together.

“Have you known me to stutter?” Fury said plainly, ignoring the feral growl he could barely hear in the background. “If you would have kept in better contact with me, like you're supposed to, you would have known I thought it better if she figured out life on her own instead of being forced by my side in the middle of all this.” The Alpha defended gruffly. “I never let her get into harm's way, and when I saw she was struggling more than needed I sent in someone to help her along.”

Ruth grunted in acknowledgement. “Did Hill at least get the books from her?” There was a moment of tense silence.

“You mean to tell me, you gave your own child classified HYDRA information.” Fury said, anger weaving itself into his voice.

“Well, if  _ someone _ stuck to the plan we agreed on in the first place we wouldn’t be having this problem! You were supposed to take her in and shelter her! This also provided an easy and discreet way of handing off the information to you! No wonder we were being hunted like dogs, you had no clue what was going on!” The woman barked angrily, a resounding growl coming through the phone once again, this time a lot louder than the last. “Luis back down Love.” She chided through her irritation.

“Look, this isn’t my fault because you decided not to give me all the details.” Fury accused before letting out an exasperated sigh. “Lets just hope she didn’t read them, hand them off, or get rid of them at some point.” He growled, sitting impatiently as he heard a minor discussion happen between Ruth and another person, presumably Luis.

Finally she spoke once again. “Alright. That’s not why we called though.” She said, regret making its way into her voice. “We needed to ask you a favor, one that will help keep Mercy safe for now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm terrible at conveying accents through writing, but I tried to give Bucky a more noticeable twinge to his words than before. Did that make his accent pop out more in your head?  
> How are you guys liking this so far? I really hope your enjoying because I'm having a hell of a time writing!  
> Thank you so much for reading!


	6. Vacation Time! Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long to come out! I got busy with life stuff and the past few weeks have not been kind.  
> This chapter actually had to be split up into two parts - hence the title.  
> A muse Demon took hold of the keyboard when I wrote this chapter because when I was done I some how tripled the the normal chapter length?  
> Either way - I will post the second part of this chapter in a day or so.

**Monday, 10:24pm**

Mercy rummaged through the all too large closet in the guest bedroom. This was supposed to be a guest floor, what did Tony think his guests would be staying for a year? Though, she supposed it wasn’t anything to be too surprised about. This was billionaire Tony Stark, he went above and beyond anything that was expected or considered ‘normal’. 

With a sigh she grabbed a few shirts off of the hangers, folding them neatly before placing them into the duffel bag Natasha had given her. Then she rummaged through the drawers, snorting at the realization that she only owned jeans and pajama pants. She had no real reason to ever own shorts. First, she didn’t like the way they showed off her legs really, to many old childhood scars to be proud of. Second, New York was always a bit on the ‘not going to melt in pants’ side of the temperature gauge so there was no real purpose to waste money on extra clothes. 

After throwing in some underwear as well, Mercy zipped up the bag before standing up and slinging it over her shoulder. They were only going to be gone for two days, at least that’s what Steve and Tony seemed to agree on last night at the dinner table. All she had to do was hope Natasha didn’t jump on her lack of beach clothes and force a shopping trip. Not that Mercy wanted to avoid her confident, red-haired, mate. Even though Natasha could be a bit intimidating to stand next to she was very caring and kind. Mercy simply didn’t know how she felt about her mates suddenly buying her things, and thus far she had avoided being dragged out into the world to look through far too expensive clothing. But being an Omega was all about being cared for that’s why having a pack, or at the very least one mate, was important for them. So Mercy supposed she was going to have to get over that sooner or later.

She walked out of the closet and was just about to walk out of the bedroom all together when she stopped in her tracks. Her hand resting on the doorknob as she turned to look at the bed, her eyes flickering to the space between the frame and the floor. It was only two days, she’d be back before she knew it and the tower was one of the safest places for anything she owned to stay while she was gone. But the thought of leaving the books her parents gave her to protect made her heart clench with anxiety. Besides, maybe by some weird chance of fate she’d meet the fabled Maria Hill her parents told her to give them to. With a defeated sigh Mercy walked over to the bed and reached under, retrieving the file box from under it and opening it. Carefully she took the books from the box and shoved them into her bag, making sure the clothing inside covered them, along with the flashlight. With that, Mercy finally felt at ease enough to leave her room and head up to meet with her pack.

Once she was on the pack floor, she was greeted with Nat handing a few bags to Clint, who was grumbling. “Nat, I love you, but you don’t need four bags of clothes to go to a beach house.” Clint said as he shouldered one of the bags she handed to him.

“Yes, I do. Gotta be prepared for anything.” Natasha protested with a large grin before turning to look at Mercy with a small wink. “Glad to see you listened to Tony’s impatient command of getting up here within ten minutes.” She hummed softly.

Mercy chewed on the lip before nodding slowly. “Yeah, I didn’t want to be trapped in a plane with a grumpy Alpha.” She said as she approached the pair of them, holding out her hand to Clint. “Do you want me to carry one of those for you?”

“Yes.” 

“No.” Natasha looked to Clint and scowled playfully. “You're the pack mule, that was the deal for our last bet.” The archer groaned in irritation and huffed before looking at Mercy, his eyes pleading with her to help him.

The Omega simply put up her hands and smiled apologetically. “I know when I’m out matched Clint. Sorry.” She said before wandering past them, smiling softly as she heard Natasha laugh and Clint whine pathetically. Making her way into the pack living room Mercy tilted her head as she saw Tony and Bucky standing next to each other, multiple small books in their hands. “What’cha got there?” Mercy said softly as she walked up to the two of them, her silver eyes eyeing the books curiously.

“See! I told you she would actually listen unlike some people.” Tony beamed before his eyes landed on Bucky’s accusingly, making the Alpha grin widely. “But these are passports, Bucky and I were making sure we had everyone's.” He said simply, pushing the books into a neat stack in his hand.

Mercy’s face scrunched slightly. “Passports? Where are you going?”

“ _ We _ are going to Cuba.” Bucky said, watching in mild amusement as the Omega’s eyes went comically wide.

“What!” She yelped, looking between the two men, waiting for one of them to burst out into laughter. When neither of them did she frantically waved towards the pile of passports. “If you haven’t noticed, I don’t have a passport. I can’t possibly go with.”

“You do realize one of your Alphas is Tony Stark right?” Tony said, raising a brow at her even though he had a wide playful grin on his lips. “I got you one made so don’t worry about it.” He said before looking at the pile before plucking one out and handing it to her.

She took it, letting her fingers run over the faux navy blue leather cover that held the American symbol. Quickly she flipped through the pages of it, her eyes narrowing at the fact there was a head-shot of herself. One she did not remember posing for in the slightest. “I have many questions. My first one being, was this made legally.” She asked pointedly.

“Yes. I was just able to expedite the process.” Tony said leaning forward to take the book back, only for Mercy to lean back just barely out of his reach.

“Where’d you get the picture from?

“I had FRIDAY look through the security footage to see if she got a good front angle of you. Had her clean up the image and that’s what I had used.” Tony supplied

“Don’t you need all of my legal information for this?” Mercy said, tapping the book with her finger. “Like SS number, hospital approved birth certificate, stuff like that?”

“Yes.” Tony said plainly, slightly confused as he watched Mercy give him an exasperated look. Bucky nudged him with his shoulder, making a motion with his hand that encouraged the Alpha to elaborate. “Oh.” Tony said suddenly, looking at the now irritated Omega in front of him. “Okay, yes, when we found you I had FRIDAY pull up every file she could find on you.” He watched as horror and panic filled her eyes and the Alpha hastily continued. “I didn’t just do it with you! I did it with all the rest of them too.” Tony said, making a wide gesture toward all his scattered mates. “They all know about it, and I have all the files encrypted so only I, or FRIDAY, can get into them. You’re safe in my care, Darling. I only draw up those files so that they are on hand in case we need them.” Tony defended firmly, watching the woman in front of him carefully.

Mercy felt a little hurt that one of her mates would go into her personal information without asking first. Even if they were her Soulmates and she had not planned on leaving them, it still stung a little. Especially since they obviously had the compiled information for a little while now. She looked at him, an angry and hurt pout on her lips as her eyes narrowed on him. Stretching her hand out she handed the passport back to him. “Next time, just ask me for the information. Or at least inform me that you have that kind of information on me right away. Because I’m sure none of you, especially you of all people, would like it if I dug up personal information about you.” Mercy said hotly, watching as both of the Alphas in front of her tensed visibly at her anger.

“When are we leaving?” She asked after a moment, her eyes leaving Tony and going to Bucky since her anger and hurt was mostly directed towards Tony in particular. 

“Once Steve and Bruce are done with their session we’ll leave.” Bucky said softly, his deep voice quiet as he looked at the angry Omega in front of him. She simply nodded and adjusted her bag on her shoulder before turning and leaving the room. Vaguely aware of the fact she could hear a small yelp from Tony and a deep displeased growl coming from Bucky as she left the room.

Twenty minutes later and the whole pack was putting their stuff on Tony’s private jet. Once everything was carefully packed away in the cargo space everyone got into the jet. Everyone clambered in and buckled in, Mercy squeezed between Bruce and Natasha for the time being as they ascended into the air. 

As soon as their pilot announced they were safely in the air everyone unbuckled and moved around the cabin. Clint and Natasha had stolen Mercy as they tugged her to a table to sit with them, dealing out cards as they explained how to play Rummy 500. The two most competitive people in her pack wanted her to play with them, and that was the most intimidating thing since this was the first time she had played a card game in a long while. Surprisingly the two assassins were able to tamp down their need to win in order to coach Mercy through the first few rounds of the game.

**Monday, 2:31pm**

The plane ride had only been three hours long, and currently they were touching down on a landing pad not too far from the beach house. Once the jet landed everyone walked off of the plane, going to gather their bags before venturing down the stone path that led to the back of the large modern house a few hundred feet away from them.

It took them a few scenic minutes to arrive at the house, which Tony had to unlock with a key, before opening the sliding glass doors. The billionaire really did have a thing for lots of glass it seemed. Everyone walked in, a few ‘oo’ and ‘wow’ coming from the pack as they looked at the simply designed interior of the house.

“Yeah, it’s pretty I know.” Tony boasted as he stopped walking in front of everyone. “So, there’s three bedrooms, and unlike our room at home the beds aren’t designed for packs our size. So we’ll need to split-”

“I’m taking Mercy!” Natasha announced loudly, her hand flying down to grasp the other woman’s tightly before tugging her body into hers. Mercy’s whole face was a bright red as her body was pressed into Nat’s side. “Don’t need you boys slobbering over the poor girl.” She said, gaining a few chuckles, except for Steve who looked slightly appalled at the idea.

“Alright then. Bruce, Clint, your bunking with me in the bigger room upstairs.” Tony said, pointing towards the stairs that were off to the side. “You two think you can handle sharing a bed?” The Alpha teased as he looked to Steve and Bucky.

“I’m not so sure. This Punk likes to hog the bed.” Bucky said, pushing Steve playfully.

“I do not! You’re the one that's difficult to sleep with, you steal the blankets as soon as there's any give, Jerk.” Steve countered, leaning to the side and wrapping his arm around Bucky’s waist to pull him against him. The next second their lips collided together, pulling a chuckle and a grin from the brown haired Alpha.

Mercy watched curiously from her place against Natasha. She had tried to pull away but Nat just held her tighter so she quickly gave up. “They're even prettier when they kiss aren’t they?” Natasha said suddenly next to her ear, making Mercy jump out of her own skin and yip, pulling out of the other woman’s grip with surprising ease this time.

“N-no! I-I mean yes! No.. I meant… I wasn’t looking!” Mercy protested, her face a vibrant shade of red as she looked at the woman, who was currently grinning in amusement.

“Ouch Doll.” Bucky rumbled behind Nat, leaning against Steve, as he watched the flustered Omega in front of him.

“That's not - I -” Mercy floundered for words, her eyes big as she tried so desperately to fix what had just happened.

“Okay, okay. Don’t make her explode guys.” Clint chimed in, coming up behind the Omega to her rescue as he set a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you and Nat go and settle into the bedroom over there?” He suggested, gaining a small nod from Mercy before she adjusted her bag on her shoulder and hurried to the appointed room.

When Mercy opened the door to the bedroom she had to stop and appreciate the delicately designed room. It consisted of different shades of black, grey, and brown with some pinks thrown in here and there. A large queen sized bed stood in the middle of the room, the wooden frame made of a deep brown wood and the bedding a soft pastel pink with white accents. On either side of the bed were two night stands, made of the same wood as the bed, that held two shaded lamps on top of them. On the other side of the room was a bookshelf, a few chairs surrounding a table, and a flat screen TV that was mounted to the wall. 

“What do you think?” Nat asked from behind her as she made to move around her. Setting her bag next to the other three already in the room, Clint must have been in here already to drop them off.

“It’s pretty, more feminine than I expected..” Mercy admitted quietly as she walked up to the bed, letting her bag settle on the ground next to it. Gingerly she climbed onto it, the bedding soft and plush under her hands, and for the first time in a long time she felt her Omega perk up her head. A deep content noise made its way through her throat as her hands splayed out against the soft fabric. Just as the feeling of her Omega being present settled into her body, it was quieted, going dormant once again. Suddenly the feeling of the bedding wasn’t as powerful as before and Mercy pulled her hands into her lap, a feeling of momentary disappointment washing through her.

“Yeah, I helped decorate this room after Tony brought us here last time. It screamed proud rich male in here before.” Natasha hummed, having watched the small spectacle that was her Omega mate but decided to not say anything on it. Bruce had informed her and Clint about Mercy’s use of suppressants, and while neither of them liked it they were going to listen to Steve's order to not do anything about it yet. “Do you want to go down to the beach?” Nat asked with a small smile.

Her mates soft feminine voice pulled her out of her thoughts and her silver eyes snapped up to meet Natasha’s green ones. “Yeah. I’d like to go to the beach, I’ve never been so.” Mercy admitted quietly.

Nat hummed before nodding with a small smile and walking over to the door they had come in and opening it some before yelling. “We’re going down to the beach!” There were a few confirming noises followed by agreements to join them soon. With that done Natasha closed the door and grabbed one of her bags, rifling through it before taking out a black bikini and red lace cover up before setting it to the side. After another moment she pulled out a white bikini followed by a powder blue silk cover up. Turning she held out the items to Mercy. “Here.” She said simply, watching as the other woman scrunched her face in confusion, making her laugh softly. “ Котёнок, you really think I’d let you got to the beach wearing jeans and a t-shirt?” Nat accused playfully.

Mercy’s face was engulfed in red and she looked down at her hands. “I-I have other stuff to wear…” she said unconvincingly.

“Mmm.” Nat hummed, walking over to the slightly smaller woman and dropped the fabric into her lap. “I’m sorry but you haven’t convinced me, especially since I haven’t seen you wear anything that didn’t cover from her ankles up.” Nat said pointedly, watching as Mercy blushed deeper and fidgeted with the hem of her pants nervously. “Nothing wrong with it honey, we’re just in a different setting now.” She said, reaching out to cup her cheek gently and guide her to look up at her, her expression soft and gentle. “You’ll let me care for you, won’t you?” She whispered softly to the Omega.

Mercy swallowed slightly. This was the most intimate she had been with any of her mates since moving in, and while there wasn’t any sexual touching happening right now, the way Nat looked at her and held her was more intimacy than she expected. It made the walls she was working on breaking down waver and her insides melt. The intimidating woman in front of her only wanted to make sure she was cared for, like a mate was supposed to do. Slowly, Mercy found herself nodding against Natasha’s hand, watching as a pleased smile tugged at her lips.

“Good. Then will you please go change into this for me?” Nat cooed softly, watching as Mercy seemed to lean into her hand even more at the sound of her voice. After a moment Mercy pulled away, chewing on her lips like she so often did and disappeared into the bathroom shutting the door behind herself.

About five minutes or so later Mercy was changed and looking in the mirror, her eyes wide. “N-Nat!” She called out, hearing rustling from behind the door before the knob jostled and the door opened, showing a concerned Natasha on the other side. She looked at her before quickly adding. “I - I don’t think I can wear this out there…” Mercy lamented shyly, looking down at the white tilted floor.

Natasha walked into the bathroom, moving behind the other woman as she looked her form over curiously. The white bikini she had chosen fit her well. The rectangular fabric was holding her smaller bust well as it wrapped around her back and was held up by two thin spaghetti straps. The bottom piece was thicker than the normal bikini, about an inch in width at its thinnest, and complimented the woman's wider hips. “Why not?” Natasha asked curiously.

“Because… It shows too much skin, Nat..” Mercy said quietly, fidgeting in place as her Beta mate looked over her outfit. Natasha let out a small sigh as she very slowly wrapped her arms around Mercy’s middle. She let her arms ghost around her, waiting to see if the other woman would flinch or pull away. When she didn’t Nat let herself hold her softly against her.

“I think you look beautiful in it, Honey.” She whispered encouragingly to her. 

“You might… But-”

“No, the boys will love it as much as I do, котёнок.” Natasha said, cutting off Mercy’s anxious accusations. “Is that what you're worried about? Them not liking how you look?” Natasha prodded ever so gently. Mercy simply nodded, making the other woman sigh and start to sway the two of them as they stood there. “I promise you, whatever you think they think about how you look is wrong.”

“They have you as a mate Natasha and each other... I’m not --”

“I swear Mercede, if you finish that sentence out loud I’ll spank you.” Natasha said harshly, her eyes narrowing on the Omegas reflection in the mirror as she watched her mouth suddenly tighten. “I have my physical faults too. I have a lot of scars on my body, just like you do. I promise you, that these,” Nat let one hand move from Mercy’s middle to her thigh, going slowly and cautiously so she didn’t push the other woman out of her comfort zone. With a feather light touch she let her fingers ghost over a thick banded scar on her thigh, about four inches in horizontal length. From the looks of it, the scars that riddled the Omega’s legs weren’t from self harm, but from self defense. Or at the very least she got them in a fight, whether she had been defending herself or in the cross-fires was to be determined. “Will not make a difference to how attractive they think you are.”

“What about you?” Mercy said suddenly, the question coming out before she could stop it. “Do you think they're ugly?” She whispered. Nat shook her head and she let her fingers caress the scarred skin affectionately.

“No Honey.” She soothed. “I think they make you look ever more attractive. You're a fighter, that's what these say.” Nat said encouragingly, feeling the anxious tension that was in her mates body subside slowly as she continued to caress her skin. “Besides, you know that other clothing item I gave you? You can wear that over this until you decide to take it off to go swimming or something.” She hummed to Mercy, still swaying their bodies together as the Omega in her arms grappled with her thoughts.

Finally Mercy let out a sigh and her body leaned back into Nat’s, making the Beta woman smile contentedly. “Okay.” She said softly, bring her hands up to lay on top of Nat’s tentatively. A final kiss to the side of the head was her reward for overcoming her anxiety before she was handed the silk cover up.

“Good. Now come on. I’m sure the boys are curious as to where we are.” Nat said, watching as Mercy slid on the thigh length piece of clothing before buttoning the few front buttons. Once the other woman was comfortable with her attire, Nat took her hand and led her out of the bathroom, heading to the sliding glass doors on the other side of the room that lead to a path down to the beach.

A few minutes later the two women reached the edge of the beach hand in hand as they looked out at the rest of their pack. Bruce and Tony were hiding under a large rainbow umbrella, two large beach towels spread out under the shaded area as they sat on top of them, seeming to be discussing something or another. Clint, Bucky, and Steve were further down the beach, closer to the water. A net that was held up by two poles was behind them as Clint went around and was seemingly drawing lines in the sand, presumably to simulate a court. 

Nat steered the two of them towards the three men. As they approached them Mercy was able to get a better look at the three of them. They all were wearing swim trunks of varying colours, but what really stuck out to her was the fact the two super soldiers lacked shirts in the hot sun. Both of their chiseled bodies on full display for all to see. Bucky’s trunks hanging a little lower than Steve’s and allowing for slightly more view of the prominent ‘v’ that led below his belt line. Almost immediately Mercy’s face was bright red once again and her eyes fell to the soft pale yellow sand under her feet, she hadn’t even noticed Nat stopped the both of them till the woman spoke.

“You can look, I won’t tell.” Nat cooed smoothly to her, rubbing her thumb along the back of her hand. After a moment Mercy let her eyes wander back up from the sand and to the two ripped men standing a generous distance from her. She only got a moment to appreciate their forms before Bucky’s eyes were torn from Steve’s as he turned and looked right at Mercy. Almost instantly a wolfish grin appeared on his lips and he nudged Steve’s arm and gestured towards the two of them. Unlike Bucky, Steve didn’t grin, no, his cheeks painted a soft pink and he looked away suddenly, much like Mercy did as soon as she realized the two men had noticed her ogling.

“Nat!” She whined, bringing her hands up to her face to hide her shamed blush while Natasha giggled at her side.

“Hey, I said I wouldn’t tell. Never said they wouldn’t notice.” She said before grabbing Mercy’s forearm and dragging her to the make-shift court Clint had made. 

“Enjoying the view ladies?’ Bucky purred deeply, the wolfish grin still plastered to his face.

“Of course.”

“No.” Mercy said with a scowl as she looked down at the sand, making both Bucky and Natasha chuckle at the embarrassed Omega.

Luckily Clint came to her rescue as he walked up to the small group, holding a blue and white volleyball in his arms. “Hey, I got the court all setup. Ready to play?” He asked, choosing to ignore the still laughing Beta and Alpha.

Mercy’s head perked up at the sound of playing. Curiously she looked at Clint, eyeing the ball before looking at the lines drawn in the sand around the net. “What are you playing?”

“We are going to be playing sand volleyball.” Steve offered, now having recovered from his initial embarrassment. The name was unfamiliar to Mercy so she cocked her head to the side and her brow scrunched in confusion. “You never played before, I take it?”

She shook her head. “No. My family and I played badminton a few times though. Is it like that?”

“Kinda. Just without the rackets.” Steve said

“And instead of a birdy, it’s a ball.” Clint supplied.

“And you used your hands instead of a racket.” Bucky chimed in.

There was a moment of silence as Mercy looked between the three men. “So,” She started, crossing her arms. “It’s nothing like badminton.” 

Natasha snorted beside her. “No. It’s not. Don’t listen to them.” She said before looking to Mercy and smiling. “How about you just watch the four of us play a few rounds?” She offered, making Mercy smile and nod in acceptance.

“I’m taking Bucky this time!” Clint called, quickly moving to the soldier and grabbing his wrist before tugging him to one side of the court. Natasha just smiled before looking to Steve and motioning to the other side before they both walked away to get into position. After a quick round of rock, paper, scissors between Clint and Nat, Natasha quickly ended up with the ball starting in her court. 

The red-haired woman backed up into the corner of the sand court, throwing the ball up into the air and a second later hitting it with her open palm. The ball easily arched over the net and into the other court. Clint made a fist with one hand and cupped it with the other, thumbs up as he launched himself under the ball, bumping it up and back over the net towards Steve. With his tall physique he didn’t need to ball his hands up like Clint did. He simply rushed under the ball, putting his hands above his head so his pointer finger and thumbs were making a small diamond and softly pushing the ball back into the air. Natasha quickly came up beside him, hitting the ball with her open palm and angling it downwards on the other side of the net. Just as the ball seemed like it was going to land in the sand Bucky came bursting forward, his flesh arm extended out as his chest hit the sand with a heavy sound. But the ball hit his arm and bounced up into the air, making it so Clint could come up and tap it over the top of the net. Not even a second later and Nat jumped into the air, using her fingers tips to bump the ball back down harshly on the other side. With a soft  _ thump _ the volleyball rested in the sand.

“Oh come on!” Clint huffed, as he helped Bucky up from the sand. The Alpha used his free hand to dust the sand off of his broad chest.

“I can’t help you’re slow!” Natasha called out, shrugging her shoulders with a grin before looking at Mercy, who’s eyes were wide with surprise.

“You guys.. You guys want me to play that?” She questioned, making Natasha laugh softly.

“Well when you're in here we’ll be going a lot easier.” She said before looking up as Clint chucked the ball back to her. Then the game started again, and Mercy watched curiously as her mates intensely hit the ball back and forth, gaining points for both sides as the ball landed into the sand. After a few rounds of her watching, Steve and Natasha managed to coax her out onto the court.

“That’s not fair! One of you should leave the court!” Clint whined as he tucked the ball under his arm.

“You’re such a cry baby! She’s learning she’ll need extra guidance!” Natasha hollered at him, making him huff but ultimately back down. Looking to Mercy she smiled and gestured for her to stand in the middle of the court. “He’ll serve it to you, and I want you to try and bounce it up. Don’t worry about getting over the net, Steve and I will back you up.” The Beta said with an encouraging nod before taking a few steps back.

Clint served the ball with less force than he had previously. Putting her hands up above her head, Mercy made a diamond with her fingers like she watched Steve do before. Gently she pushed the ball up, gaining encouraging words from both of her teammates before they moved in to guide the ball over the net. Clint ran for the ball and easily sent it over, but what no one expected was for the competitive Beta to hit the ball so softly that it was only an inch or two away from the net on their side of the court. A triumphant and mischievous grin on his face as he watched Nat scramble for the ball. She hit the sand with a grunt and stuck out her arm, the ball bouncing back up into the air. Mercy’s heart skipped a beat as she watched the ball fall in slow motion. There was a split second decision in her brain as she watched it in the air. The next thing she knew, she had tore through the sand to get to it. Yellow streaks followed her the short distance to the falling ball and once she was under it, she reached her hand up, palm open and smacked the ball hard back across the court. There was a small grunt of surprise and slight discomfort and Mercy looked up, watching as the ball smacked Bucky in the chest and hit the ground.

There was a shocked silence that ran through the five of them, and Mercy’s eyes widened in apologetic horror as she brought her hands up to cover her mouth. But before she could get the string of apologies out of her mouth Bucky started to laugh, followed by Steve and Natasha while Clint stamped his foot irritably.

“That's not even fair!” He crowed. “I want her on my team!” He huffed, but there was a proud smirk on his face as he looked at her. The reassurance of her mates made the fear that Mercy experienced wash away rather quickly, and soon enough she was joining them in their small fit of laughter.

The five of them played for a while longer. Steve, Natasha, and Mercy all gave Clint and Bucky a good workout as the three worked together to control the ball to make the Alpha and Beta pair run and dive for it. A break was needed as even the super soldiers were starting to sweat from the combined heat of the sun, laughing, and movement of the sport. So they all took a break, Nat dragging Mercy and Clint with her to a large red umbrella with towels under it so they could rest. Once they sat down Mercy let herself flop back onto the towel, a small sigh coming from her as she let her tired body rest.

A few minutes later, Tony came into her peripheral vision, an orange and white bottle in his hands. “Hey Dash, I brought some sunscreen. It’d be no fun if you got burnt.” He commented softly, as he looked down at her. Mercy squinted up at him skeptically, but reached to retrieve the bottle only for him to pull it closer to his body. “I can put it on for you.” That made the Omega in front of him scowl.

“I don’t want you to help me. Natasha or Clint can.” She said bitterly. She was still somewhat mad about this morning, still felt like he had betrayed her trust. That wasn’t something she gave out lightly and he had gone and dug into her personal records. Mate or not, it was wrong and he should have asked or at least informed her of it right away. So yeah, she was still upset about it. “Now give me the bottle. Or I'll happily sport a burn.” She said with a huff, watching as the Alpha reluctantly passed off the bottle to her.

“Look, Mercy I -” Tony was cut off by a glare from her and the sound of his phone going off in the distance. A frustrated sigh came from him and retreated to his own umbrella nearby. “Hello?” He said into his phone, his brow scrunching. “No, we’re at my beach house on Cuba” A moment of silence. “Are you serious? We can’t have a two day-” He got cut off before sighing and running a hand over his face. “Yeah, yeah, okay.” Tony said before turning off the phone and tossing it onto his towel.

“What’s that about?” Natasha called over to him, her hands working sunblock into the skin of Mercy’s back while the other woman worked on her front.

“Fur-” Tony glanced at Mercy. “The Pirate called, said that there’s been a sighting of a  _ special  _ person nearby and that we should keep an eye and ear out.” He said with a slight huff.

Nat simply nodded. “Alright, are we going to-”

“No.” Tony said stubbornly. “This is a vacation. We’re not going to actively look, if they become a problem then we’ll go into action. Until then, it’s pack vacation time, no work allowed.” He said before casting an accusing look towards Natasha, and Mercy swore she could feel an electric tension crackle between the Alpha and Beta. 

“Yes sir.” Natasha said, a small bite to her tone. But Tony took it and simply nodded his head before turning his attention to Bruce, who was still lounging on the towel next to his.

**Monday, 8:53pm**

Taylor hummed as the screen of her laptop lit up a soft blue, the colour bouncing off her pale skin and illuminating it. “I am most glad to find out our Golden Lily’s mate has such a strong talent for coding.” Praised the short black-haired Alpha quietly. “With that said, I am sad to say I can only afford you two five minutes.”

“Oh my love” Cooed a blonde-haired woman behind her seat in the car. “It sincerely wounds me that you would think I would need anymore than two minutes to go through the infamous Stark Tower and return.”

“Ruth” Chided a deep gruff voice beside her, making her look into the hazel eyes of the red-haired Alpha. “Taylor and I both have told you many times not to underestimate anyone's capabilities - Do not pout at me, Omega.” He growled, reaching out to cup her chin a bit harshly. But the blonde named Ruth simply smiled at him.

“You are as predictable as always, my heart. No matter the setting.” She said with a small giggle before looking to the passenger seat as she heard a small huff.

“If I had known Ruth would actually be in a decent mood for once on one of our little expeditions, I’d have sat in the back seat.” Pouted the long black-haired woman, moving to cross her arms. Taylor looked at her and rolled her eyes before shaking her head. Just as she had taken a breath in order to speak, the male Alpha in the back seat spoke before her.

“As much as I adore listening to the three of you bicker over each other's affection; I must remind you we do have a job to do.” He reminded firmly, but there was an undertone of softness hiding behind his words as he prodded the woman. After he spoke the three of them seemed to have fallen silent as they each turned to look at the tall tower looming in front of them.

Morgan chewed on her lip softly, her eyes flitting from the mostly glass tower to the blue screen her mate was looking at. “Why couldn’t we just-”

“Morgan” Taylor said softly, her eyes snapping up to meet the Beta’s. “We’ve talked about this before, dear. It’s in Mercy’s best interest that we not show up in her life again. We were the ones who asked - no -  _ told  _ her to leave us.” The Alpha reminded her gently, opting to reach one of her hands out to take the other woman’s.

“I know..” Morgan said regretfully, her eyes looking down at the radio station sadly. “I just miss her. I want to know what she looks like now, what kind of job she has, if she looks more like Ruth or Luis more, if she - “

“Enough.” Snarled the male Alpha, Luis. The car fell absolutely silent, none of the women dared to move a centimetre as they all intently listened to their mates breathing. Finally, there was a small sigh. “I did not mean to do that.” He whispered apologetically. “But it was a mutual agreement we all made years ago, love, we can not do anything to reverse it.” The Beta nodded in submission to the Alpha before turning her gaze back to the tower, knowing that their conversation was over.

“Okay, I’m going to deactivate his AI. Ruth, remember you only have 5 minutes, maybe less if it can reconfigure its coding quick enough. So no messing around, in and out.” Taylor said, giving the Omega an accusing look and only getting a sheepish smile in return. “I’ll keep you two up to date on your time. Which starts now.”

The moment Taylor pressed the button Ruth and Luis shot out of the car. Once the ground touched Ruth’s feet the blonde-haired woman took off into a streaking blur of soft white. A few seconds after Luis climbed out of the car he was picked up by the white streaking blur of his mate as she ran them into the now dark tower. It took her all of thirty seconds to climb the flights of stairs until they were on the floor they had mapped out to be Mercy’s. Taylor had to do some light digging into the security feed of Stark tower a few hours ago to figure it out - and by light, they meant  _ light. _ FRIDAY had been a lot more sensitive to her weaseling than anticipated to begin with and she’d almost forced the AI to send out a code red to Tony. Luckily Taylor was about to cover her tracks so the AI thought it was a hiccup in its own coding.

“Ugh. You need to go on a diet.” Ruth groaned as she set the large Alpha down onto the ground, who simply grunted in response. “Enhanced strength or not - You're heavy.”

“Four minutes and ten seconds.” Taylor announced through their earpieces.

“Ruth, look through her room, I’ll check the rest of the area.” They both nodded to each other before running off to their designated areas. After about a minute of searching both the Alpha and Omega started to become somewhat frantic in their search. So far there was nothing. No trace that their daughter had the HYDRA notes that they desperately needed to get to Fury. Not even the flash-light that went with the books was in a drawer or hidden under a piece of furniture. The two of them got the main rooms done and went on to the smaller ones, thoroughly running through the bathroom and kitchen, without showing any trace they were there.

“Two minutes. You two need to get back because it's starting to reboot. Man, I want the whole code for this thing. She’s a real beauty.” Taylor all but purred over the earpiece.

“Not helping.” Huffed Luis as he dug through a cupboard. “They're not here.”

“What?” Morgan gasped. “She didn’t throw them did she? Maybe she read them and burned them?”

“Do you really think our daughter would go against our wishes like that Morg?” Ruth hissed irritable into her mic.

“Minute and forty. You two need to start leaving - now.” Taylor ushered, the sound of her fingers running along her keyboard could be heard through their earpieces. One frustrated growl and a sigh of irritation could be heard in response. Ruth walked out from the bedroom, looking at Luis who wore the same concerned yet worried look on his face as she did. Just like before the woman dashed forward, whizzing past the larger man and picking him up as she rushed down the flights of stairs. Surprisingly she got down in twenty four seconds this time- gravity really did help even when using super speed. The two back doors of the car opened and both of them climbed in, closing the door before turning their gazes to the worried woman in front of them.

“Nothing? Not a single one?” Morgan asked.

“No. Not a damn trace of them.” Ruth said, bringing her hand up to rub at her temples in irritation. “We need to get those things from her and to Fury. Their four years late but still - if HYDRA tries to do anything with any of that information again SHIELD would be on top of it.” A heavy silence hung in the car as all four of them glanced at each other, simply waiting for the other to come up with something. This was important, one of the most important things for them to do since that had been their mission for the past forty years. Gather Intel from inside of HYDRA and bring it back, no matter the cost. But they were not going to risk hurting their daughter again for the sake of their work. Nothing was worth them having to force her through such heart break once again.

“What did we tell her when we gave her that box of books?” Taylor questioned, breaking the ever growing silence.

“We told her they were important, she needed to protect them and keep them with her at all times, and that they were to be handed to Maria Hill. She’d give the code word after Mercy asked her the security question.” Luis supplied gruffly, his hazel eyes meeting his mates Navy blue ones. At that moment it was like a light bulb went off in both of their heads as their eyes widened in unison.

“She’s got them then.” Taylor said, a relieved smile tugging at her lips.

“How are so certain?” Ruth prodded skeptically.

“Because, she’s our daughter Ruth.” Luis said sharply, turning his gaze to look at her with the normal harshness that was held in his gaze. “In all her sixteen years with us she never once went against what we said. Now, our baby might be mad at us for forcing her to leave but she would never go against something she  _ knew  _ we viewed as important.” He said resolutely.

“Okay, that’s great and all,” Morgan butted in, her eyes glancing between the Omega and Alpha, hoping she could cut the tension between the two of them for a moment. “But how do we get her to hand them over to Hill?”

Taylor’s smile widened ever so slightly. “We just have to remind her of what we tasked her with.” She said holding her hand out to Morgan, who dug into her pocket in order to retrieve a grey flip phone. Instantly she opened it, revealing there to only be one contact in its list, which she promptly dialed and held the phone up to her ear.

“Fury.” Came the familiar heavy and harsh tone of the one eyed Alpha.

“Ah, it’s nice to hear your voice. Old Ruthy hogged the phone last we called.” Taylor mused softly, earning an unamused snort from the Alpha on the other end.

“Did you retrieve the notebooks?” He asked.

“Straight to the point then, can’t be helped, you never liked small talk. But to answer your question - no, no we didn’t” Taylor lamented ruefully to him. Fury could be heard cursing under his breath at the knowledge. “They're still out there though, our daughter has them.”

“Last time you said she had them, you didn't yield well.” He said bitterly. There was an annoyed snort from behind Taylor and before she could argue or move Luis pulled the phone from her hands.

“Listen, Fury” Luis spat venomously. “You will not speak to my mates like that - any of them.” He snarled before looking to the side as he felt Ruth’s small hand resting on his thigh. A usual comfort that she offered when he started to get rowdy. “Look, we just need help getting in contact with Mercy.”

“Thought you said you didn’t want to be in her life anymore.” Fury pointed out calmly in his deep tone.

“We aren’t going to be in her life, nor are we going to directly contact her or see her for that matter.” Luis stated.

“Then how do you propose you communicate with her? Morse code?” Fury said with a snort.

“No.” Luis glanced up at Taylor who simply nodded her head, as if the two Alpha’s already knew what the plan was without speaking. “The four of us are going to instruct you how to write a note to our daughter, and it has to be precisely how we say otherwise she will know it’s not from us.”

“Wouldn’t it just be easier for one of you four to simply go to where she is now. I have her exact location and I’m sure you could catch her alone even with her mates around.” Fury said, tapping his finger on the back of his own flip phone impatiently. Luis looked up at the three women in the car, all of which were looking down at something in the car, their faces showing nothing but painful sadness.

“It is best she does not see us, Fury.” Luis said, the normal harshness in his voice being replaced with a regretful sadness. The sound made even Fury’s thick heart strings get plucked ever so slightly. “So” Luis continued, his composure coming back to him at the blink of an eye. “If you want your Intel you will have to do as we instruct.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and being patient with me!  
> All kudos and comments are appreciated!
> 
> котёнок - Kitten (Kah-Cho-Luck)  
> Nats Swimsuit - https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1Gt9PQFXXXXbUXXXXq6xXFXXXs/2018-Two-piece-Sexy-padded-Bikini-Women-Swimwear-Swimsuit-Bra-Briefs-Set-Underwear-Solid-Bathing-Suit.jpg  
> Mercy's Swimsuit - https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2548/1292/products/118012335-6_grande.jpg?v=1519874364


	7. Vacation Time! Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the second part that I promised!

**Tuesday, 12:04pm**

Mercy sat a few inches away from the water line on the beach. Her legs pulled up to her chest as she watched the water slosh forward and back. The sun was still high in the sky, it was June and they were in Cuba so having the sun out for so long wasn’t unusual. Her eyes scanned the vast blue ocean in front of her, it was breathtaking. The sun reflected so smoothly off the water, even though it made her have to squint from the brightness it was still something to marvel at. She’d never been to the beach before, never in her life had she left the secluded woods her parents lived in. Even when they had to move because HYDRA found out their current hideout they stuck to the forests. Going on day long hikes for hours a piece until they found another house. Though now that Mercy thought about, it was a bit odd that her parents always seemed to have another house ready to be used. She never questioned it when she was little, she was just happy she didn’t have to play with sticks while she walked anymore, or that she didn’t have to sleep in a sleeping bag anymore. Mercy had her fill of camping for decades to come.

Slowly she brought her knees down so they were crossed under her, her hands resting on her thighs that were still partially covered by the silk cover-up she wore. Her fingers ran across a small amount of the skin that was exposed, the sensation of rough scar tissue flooding her senses. This one wasn’t as big as the one Nat had touched earlier, it was only two inches in length and sat vertically at the top of her knee. A shudder followed by a small wince ran through Mercy at the memory of the scar.

_A young, five year old, Mercy sat outside of a log cabin. Sand surrounded her as she sat in the small sandbox that was there to begin with. Her hands filled with the grainy minerals as she plopped them into the red bucket she had to her right. “Daddy look!” She chirped excitedly, grabbing the small bucket and holding it up before tipping it upside down and letting it drop into the pile of sand. After a moment of struggling she managed to wiggle the bucket off, showing off a very unstable clump of dry sand that somewhat resembled a castle._

_“Good job Merc!” Cheered a male Alpha from a bit away. Mercy looked up at him with excited silver eyes. The Alpha she called Daddy was a large man, a wide frame that held thick cords of muscle under it and flexed with every movement he made. He had soft freckles dotting his face and that worked there way to sparsely cover his whole body, soft red hair that was peppered with a few streaks of grey, showing off his age even with his prestinely fit body._

_“Can you come build with me?” Mercy asked happily, bouncing in place._

_“In one minute honey, remember I’m cutting wood for mommy?” The Alpha answered fondly._

_“Oh yeah! For food!” She chirped back before turning her attention to the now empty red bucket. Just as she went to reach for the bucket there was a soft slicing sound that rang in her ears. A moment later, the sound of flesh tearing could be heard and a small gasp came from the Alpha beside her. Mercy looked down at the knife that was lodged in her leg, the black handle sticking out of her skin as her small body started to shake with fear. It only took another second to pass before the young girl was wailing in pain and fear as her father came bolting over to her side._

Mercy shuttered at the memory. Her fingers running slowly over the thick scar. She could still feel the pain of the knife slicing through her young flesh. The fear that had plagued her mind as her father ran to her and bullets started to whiz through the air.

“Hey.” Came a deep soothing voice above her. The sound pulled her out of her thoughts immediately and she looked up, only to find Steve looking down at her mildly concerned. “You okay, Sweetheart?” He said as he reached his hand down and rested it on her cheek, using his thumb to brush away a stray tear. When had she started crying?

“Yeah, I’m good.” Mercy forced, her silver eyes looking into his concerned blue ones. But instead of pressing on, Steve simply nodded and retracted his hand gesturing out to the water.

“Buck n’ I were going to go take a quick swim before heading back up to the house. Bruce and Natasha were bickering about food on their way up there.” He said with a small fond smile. “Would you like to join us?”

Mercy looked up at the Alpha before glancing behind him, seeing Bucky standing a few feet away with his arms crossed and his eyes locked on the water only a few inches away. “I.. Um..” The Omega stuttered slightly, turning her gaze away from the two men and out to the vast blueness in front of her. “I don’t.. Really know how to swim.” She whispered, cringing to herself as she admitted it. “We never really had the chance to stop near a lake or river or anything..”

Steve frowned as he listened to her, glancing back at Bucky who’s attention was now on the woman sitting in the sand. 

“Well, we don’t have to go far out, only up to up to your hips or so.” Steve offered, tilting his head. But his frown only deepened when she shook her head.

“No, I don't want to stop you two from getting your fill of the ocean.” She said softly, turning to offer him a slightly sad smile. The two Alpha’s were somewhat stunned at her blatant disregard for their want to spend time with her. That alone made their hearts clench painfully in their chests. Did she still not understand how important she was to them, not just as an Omega but as a part of their pack as a whole, as a person?

“What if we teach ya to swim, Doll?” Bucky offered, taking a few steps closer to the pair. The sudden offer stunned Mercy, her eyes locked onto the brown-haired Alpha as he approached her. “The water is calm right now, so it’d be easier to do it now.” He explained further, his blue-grey eyes hiding a small plea behind them. As if begging her to accept. But Mercy hesitated, fear of the unknown flooding through her chest.

“Do you trust us?” Steve said abruptly as he looked at her, easily picking up on the turmoil that was rolling through her head. 

The question took Mercy for a small loop as she thought about it. Did she trust the people she spent so much time with? The people she was supposed to live the rest of her life with? That question led her to look up at the Alphas once again, her eyes flicking between them. To her complete surprise she didn’t feel the apprehension she was expecting to. There wasn’t a wall that she felt needed to be broken or a river to be crossed any more. They were just there, nothing keeping her away from them, and even though the thought scared her, it comforted her at the same time. She did trust them.

“Yes.” She whispered, watching as the slight nervousness melted from their faces into soft smiles.

“Then let us help you.” Steve offered softly, holding his hand out to her. “Let us show you that your trust wasn’t misplaced.” He continued, a hopefulness being held in his eyes as he waited for her. After a moment, Mercy finally nodded and reached out, setting her small hand into his large one. With one firm, but gentle, tug Steve helped her up to her feet and Bucky scrambled to her opposite side. Holding his hand out much like Steve did for Mercy to take before they started walking into the water.

Before they got any further than ankle deep in the water Mercy let go of the two men, both of them momentarily tensing with concern. That was washed away rather quickly as the woman hastily unbuttoned the baby blue cover up before balling it up and tossing it to dry land. Bucky and Steve took in deep breaths at the sight of their mate baring so much skin in front of them. They both looked at each other, simply willing the other not to run their hands along the fresh and smooth pale skin in front of them. A small tug on their hands pulled the two Alphas from their communicating gaze and back to guiding the Omega deeper into the water. 

It felt like they were walking in molasses to Mercy. Maybe it was because she was scared and with each step the water slowly worked its way up her legs, making her grip the two men's hands uncomfortably tight. Well for a normal person it’d be uncomfortable, the two Super Soldiers had probably felt worse. Her eyes never left the clear blue water lapping at her skin, watching as inch by inch her body was submerged into the liquid. Not once did either Steve or Bucky loosen their grip on her or try to usher her further into the water. Of course they needed to get deeper so she didn’t hurt herself on the slightly rocky floor bed while trying to swim, but they would get there on her terms. Every uneasy squeeze was met with a reassuring one on both sides, every small shake of her muscles or halt of her legs was soothed with gentle assurances and coos.

Finally the trio got to a point where Mercy’s shoulders were almost completely submerged and the water met the middle of the two men's chests. Very carefully Bucky pulled her hand from his, moving to take a few strides away. On instinct alone Mercy whimpered and her eyes tore themselves from the water in front of them only to look up at Bucky with questioning fear.

“Shh, shh, your okay ‘mega. You’re gonna start with Stevie over there, then make your way over here. Okay?” The Alpha soothed gently, but simply smiled when she nodded.

Mercy turned her attention back to Steve, her eyes showing her fear. But he simply smiled and brought his free hand up to run it through her hair tenderly. “You’re alright. We won’t let anything happen to you, okay?” He assured, gaining a small understanding nod in return. “Good. Now I’m going to lay you on your back.” Steve said, watching her carefully as her muscles tensed but she took a small step closer to him, obviously giving him her consent. Letting go of her hand her leaned down, using one arm to wrap under her knees and the other laid against her back. Gently he picked her up, holding her to his chest for a moment before holding her out in the water in front of him.

“Okay, you're doing really well already. Straighten out your arms completely. Yup, just like that. Relax your body.” That one was a bit more tricky as Mercy’s body was tensed with fear. She did her best to fight it, taking in deep breaths to help deflate the tautness of her muscles. But when she felt Steve start to let her go she panicked. An alarmed yelp leaving her as she flailed in the water, her arms wrapping around his neck in a vise-like grip.

“Hey, hey. Woah. Shh.” Steve said, running his hand along her back. “Sorry Sweetheart, I was just going to let your free float.” He explained softly, letting the woman cling to him as he worked to calm her down. A few minutes later and Mercy was working to pull herself off of him.

“I’m sorry.. I said I trust you. Which I do I’m just..”

“Scared, I know. It’s alright.” He assured gently. “Do you want to try again?” She nodded and he smiled happily. Once again he guided her to lay on her back, arms straight out and her body working to lose the tension. This time when Steve slowly started to retract his arms Mercy stayed put, taking deep steady breaths as her eyes looked up at the bright blue sky devoid of clouds above her. She wasn't sure when he completely let go of her, but what she did know was the water underneath her felt calming. The weightlessness of it easily lulling her into a sense of gentle security, and somewhere in the back of her head she knew that if anything happened Steve and Bucky would help her.

A few moments passed and Steve let out a pleased hum. “I knew you could do it.” He praised. “If you ever feel like you can’t swim always try to get yourself like this to float.” He informed before tapping her legs and pushing down slowly, to help her stand straight up so her feet touched the ground. “Now that you know that you can try swimming.” Steve said before moving to show her how to doggy paddle. Mercy made a face as she watched the large Alpha kick at the water on all fours. It looked childish and something completely out of the normal for what he would do. The look on her face made Steve laugh softly as he settled back on the floor of the ocean.

“Is that how you normally swim on missions?” She taunted ever so slightly.

Steve shook his head and let out a playful growl at her. “No.” 

“Yes! All the time! Gotta drag his slow ass out of the water half the time.” Bucky supplied from his spot a few feet away, gaining a scowl from Steve.

“Shut up, Jerk.” Steve huffed out before looking at Mercy. “I promise I do not swim like that normally. It’s a beginner swimming technique for your information.” He said before reaching out and running his fingers along her sides, making her squeal and push at his chest. A bright grin shown on his face at the sound. “Now you try it.” Mercy squinted at him skeptically. “Go on now. Or I’ll do more than lightly tickle you.” He warned.

Hastily Mercy pushed away from the offending Alpha. It took her a few tries, but finally she was able to push the water under herself and stay above the water without Steve’s help. Once she paddled around Steve once he hummed happily. “Good. Now go over to Buck.” He said, motioning to the Alpha who had been patiently waiting a good few feet away the whole time.

Hesitation coursed through the Omega as she looked between the two Alphas. He wanted her to swim without guidance? What if she couldn’t do it halfway there, she’d be alone. Okay, the water was only to her shoulders so she wouldn’t drown by any means, but still! As if he could hear her thoughts Steve reached a hand out and placed it on her shoulder, squeezing softly. “It’s okay. We’re right here if you need us.” He assured gently. His words made her feel more secure. If she needed them they were only a few feet away.

So without further thought Mercy let herself sink into the water a little bit more before moving her limbs like she did before. Swimming made the distance between the two Alphas feel like a mile instead of only a few feet. She swore that swimming was the most inefficient way of getting around. Maybe it was because she was using a beginner technique. While she was busy grumbling able the situation in her head, she hadn’t noticed she was only a few inches away from Bucky, and that he had crouched down in the water so it covered his shoulders instead of mid-chest.

A squeal left her throat as she felt Bucky’s arms wrap around her torso, holding her very gently to his chest. “Good job, Doll. See, we knew ya could do it.” He praised lightly, watching as Mercy turned her head to see Steve grinning triumphantly at the two.

“Oh.” She said softly. “I guess I did do it.” A soft blush creeping into her cheeks as her gaze turned back to Bucky. It was the first time she had been too close to the soldier, though she supposed that was her fault. Since she’d lived in the tower she kind of avoided him just like Steve, they both intimidated her to begin with but she was also a little worried about being around the prize of HYDRA. The Omega simply didn’t want to cause him any unneeded pain, he’d already been through enough.

“A penny for your thoughts, Doll?” He rumbled softly, bringing his flesh hand up to push back a bit of her strawberry-blonde hair that had fallen into her face. Mercy simply shook her head, her gaze falling from his face to his collar bones. A familiar sight caught her eye and she looked to the side, following the deep scars to the junction of his vibranium arm. Of course she’d seen them before, whenever he was around the tower shirtless or in the gym working out or even yesterday when they were playing volleyball. But she’d never noticed how deep they were, how painful they must have been to receive.

On pure impulse Mercy brought one of her hands up to rest on his collarbone, letting the pads of her fingers run against the bone before slowly moving towards the scar, much like her eyes did. She was so focused on the fact she felt guilty for her mate's scars that she failed to miss the stiffening of his body as her fingers worked their way towards the lines of scars. Gently she ran her thumb along one of the larger scars that raced its way to the joint of the vibranium arm. The tissue under her finger was rough, slightly indented, kind of like the ones on her legs. That thought made her frown deepen as her fingers danced across the rest of the scars littering his skin. It was when she got to the second scar that Bucky couldn’t hold back the discomfort he felt, a loud grunt followed by a hiss left through his teeth, the sound startling Mercy to the point she almost fell back into the water.

Quickly she looked up at the soldier in front of her, a look of innocent fear followed by guilt filling her eyes. “I-I’m so sorry.” She said quickly, taking her hands off of him and holding them to her chest as she looked down at the water, now registering the fact she could hear water sloshing behind them. Steve must have heard Bucky’s discomfort and wanted to be sure he was okay. Mercy made to move out of his embrace, but instead of loosening his grip on her it tightened.

“Doll, look at me.” Coaxed the Alpha, waiting patiently for the Omega to obey. Once she did, he smiled, but it didn’t make the sides of his eyes crinkle like it did before. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He said before giving her a look as she opened her mouth to protest. “My scars… They're just a sore spot for me. Even with all the amazin’ work Shuri and Dr.Cho have done to help me get through my trauma, I still have a few things I need to work on.” He said quietly, reaching up with his flesh hand to cup her cheek. “You didn’t know that. So it’s okay, you didn’t break me Doll.” He assured quietly, watching as the guilt that was in her eyes wavered, but only slightly.

Before Bucky could speak anymore Mercy beat him to it. “My parents helped didn’t they..” She whispered, feeling his body stiffen and a small exhale from behind her.

“Sweetheart, how-”

Mercy snorted bitterly. “I’m their child. They might have tried to keep it away from me, but I always heard them talk at night when they thought I was asleep. Or sometimes they'd leave a notebook open and I'd read what was on the page." Mercy omitted the fact she had about ten of those notebooks currently in her bag. "Whatever HYDRA did to them increased their life span and mutated them, cause the missions they talked about sometimes were old..” She informed quietly, her gaze falling back to Bucky’s chest and scars before grimacing. “How do you guys even put up with being around me knowing who my parents are… I’m sure you know a hell of a lot more than me about what they’ve done. Then you get stuck with their own child.” Mercy scowled and shook her head. “Fate is cruel it seems.”

Her words were met with absolute silence as the two Alphas both simply stared at her, surprised to know she had been more aware of her parents' doings than they thought. But the way she spoke so badly of herself, showing her disbelief that they could, or do, care for her struck a chord in both of their hearts. 

“Doll -” Bucky started.

“No.” Mercy said, shaking her head. “You don’t need to say anything. We should -”

“Mercede,” Steve rumbled, his Alpha tone bleeding together with his Captain one. “Let us speak.” He said firmly, watching as the Omega tensed before simply nodding her head. “First of all, I don’t want to hear you say such things about yourself. We adore you, we really do, and we’re all doing our best to make your transition to being with us as smooth as possible.” He said, reaching out to run a hand along her arm.

“Second,” Bucky started. “It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past, or where ya come from. You’re our mate - our Soulmate, Doll. You’re the most important thing to us besides the others.” He said gently, using his flesh hand to tilt her head up to look at him. “We want ya to be with us. Doesn’t matter your background or past, we want you. So stop letting this thing,” He tapped on her forehead lightly. “Make false accusations. Let us show you how much we want you around, all right?” When Mercy nodded in understanding, the smile Bucky normally wore came back to his face. “Good. Now I think we’ve been in the water for a while. We should head back up before Bruce or Natasha hunts us down.”

The three of them ventured out of the water together, Mercy clinging to Steve and Bucky as they walked onto dry land. After hastily putting on the cover up they made their way up to the house. Mercy remained quiet the whole way up only glancing up at the two Alphas, one or twice, and finding out they were smiling at her which made her flush and drop her gaze. 

Once at the house they entered through the sliding glass door that led to the living room, where Clint and Tony were sitting on the couch. As soon as Mercy walked through the door Tony jumped up from the couch, diving for the bundle of flowers that were resting on the table. A little pleading glance at the two Alphas behind her prompted them to excuse themselves to the kitchen, leaving Tony to face Mercy alone. Well, Clint was in the room but the archer had already made a mental promise to stay out of it.

“Hey.” Tony said as he looked to the woman in front of him. “Did you have a nice time swimming?” He said, referring to the fact her cover up was clinging to her wet skin.

“Yes.” Mercy said plainly, glancing to the hallway that her bedroom was before looking back at Tony. He was nervous, that was evident to anyone who walked in with the way he was standing and slightly fidgeting on his feet.

“That’s good. We don’t come out here often, so it’s good you enjoy it.” He said, taking a step closer to her. “Look Mercy, I-”

“Tony.”

“No, hear me out. Please.” He pleaded softly as he looked at her, watching as she sighed and nodded. “Look, I’m terrible at this.” He said, gesturing to the flowers in his hand. “I’m not used to having to properly apologize. The rest of them know that’s just how I am and roll with it.” Clint rolled his eyes from his spot on the couch. “I do things without thinking, a lot of the time. That’s what I did with you, going through your personal information.” The Alpha ran a hand down his face in frustration. “Just - What I’m trying to say is I’m sorry Mercy. I really am, I’m sorry for hurting your trust.” He took another step to her, holding the flowers out in offering. “Please forgive me.”

Mercy just looked at the Alpha in front of her, surprise written all over her face. When she walked into the house this was not what she had expected. Then for Tony Stark of all people to bring her flowers and explain himself was something _unheard_ of. Gingerly she reached out, taking the bouquet from his hands before peaking into the light purple plastic wrapping. Inside were white tulips and soft yellow lilies, accented by some other green foliage. After taking in the bundle of flowers her eyes flicked back up to Tony’s, watching as the nervousness had melted into hope, his brown eyes large as he looked at her. He really was sorry, he wouldn’t have put this much effort in if he didn’t care how she felt about him. Mercy’s heart stuttered and she looked back down at the flowers shyly, reaching up to run her fingers along one of the petals. 

“I-I forgive you. But - But just this once.” She said softly, the blush on her cheeks only deepening when she heard the Alpha in front of her purr happily.

“Yeah, won’t happen again.” Tony said before Clint let out an unconvinced chuckle. Immediately the Alpha turned around and narrowed his eyes at him. “It won’t!” He exclaimed, making the Beta chuckle harder.

Mercy simply smiled into her flowers as she watched the two of them, noticing the way Tony’s shoulders had relaxed now that there wasn’t anymore tension between them. While the two bickered about Tony’s ability to keep promises, the Omega slid away, heading to her and Natasha’s room. Once inside she headed for her bed, noticing a few pairs of shorts and T-shirts laying on top of the bedding along with a note laying neatly on top of a pair of black ones. After Mercy conveniently found an empty glass vase in the room, filled it up with water, and set the flowers on her night stand, she read the note.

_I know you’ve told all of us about your dislike of wanting to be bought things, but no mate of mine will be in a beach house wearing anything unsuitable for the weather. Last I checked, a stock pile of jeans doesn’t go well with 80 degree weather. So humor me this one time, please._

_~ Natasha_

Mercy pursed her lips as she looked between the note and the pairs of clothing in front of her. The T-shirts were hers, that was for sure. They were nothing like the high-end fabric shorts laying under them. With their faded designs and frayed threads on the sleeves. Reaching out she ran her fingers over the smooth fabric of the shorts. Yeah, Natasha definitely didn’t get these at a thrift shop. On impulse she picked one up and instantly looked it over to see if there was a price tag - well, any tag for that matter. To her displeasure she didn’t find any tags on it, except for the one tucked inside that told its size and the do’s and don’ts of how to wash the fabric. Nat probably made sure to take all of them off.

A sigh left her as she set the shorts back down and made a face at the offending wears in front of her. She absolutely hated people buying her things. She’d informed all of them this the moment Tony tried to give her a laptop so she could explore the internet and Natasha so desperately attempted to get her to come with her in order to buy her a new wardrobe. It made her feel like she was in debt to them, and that wasn’t something Mercy liked feeling. But her mates seemed to like to give her things, or at least try to. It wouldn’t have been the first time one of them attempted to give her a gift of some sort. Was that normal for a pack to do? She supposed she didn't really know; it’s not like her family was exactly normal, with the whole constantly running from HYDRA thing. Again she looked to at the offered clothing and sighed, it wasn't going to kill her to accept them. Besides, she was pretty sure Natasha would pout up a storm if she didn't accept them. So Mercy grabbed one of the paired outfits from the bed; a light blue T-shirt with orange goldfish slowly 'moving' across the shirt along with a pair of dark blue denim shorts. With her new outfit in hand she headed to the bathroom to shower off the salt from the sea.

**Monday, 8:23pm**

The rest of the day had gone by smoothly. After Mercy had gotten out of the shower and changed she headed out to the kitchen to join everyone for lunch. When she'd sat down across from Natasha she thought her Beta mates eyes were going to pop out of her head with how wide they were. Natasha must have really not thought Mercy would actually accept the clothing she gave her. The thought that she made one of her mates extremely happy made her smile into her food. After lunch the pack split off into small groups, Bucky and Steve going out to the beach to take a jog, Clint and Natasha kidnapped Mercy to play some cards games, and Tony and Bruce had disappeared into their bedroom. No one really needed to think about what was happening there to hard, especially since the walls in the beach house weren't exactly sound proof. That's how the rest of the day went for the pack, mostly splitting off into small groups to do smaller activities together and playing kidnap the Mercy. At one point Steve had to physically pull Mercy from Natasha's hold since she had been hogging her since after lunch. Everyone thought it was endearing and cute how their normally composed and cool Beta was now pouting like a child because she had to share their Omega with the rest of them. 

Now they were all sitting in the living room, which really wasn't made for a pack their size. Unlike back at the tower there was only one large three-seated couch and a matching arm chair off to the side. Though no one seemed to honestly mind, especially since Natasha, Clint and Bruce all instantly went to sit on the floor, each in front of an Alpha. Clint sitting between Tony's legs and leaning back against the arm chair, Bruce in front of Steve and Natasha in front of Bucky as they sat on the couch. Mercy had found it somewhat odd, especially since there was enough room for someone to sit between Bucky and Steve, but maybe this was a pack dynamic thing she didn't yet understand. They did have a hierarchy so maybe that was apart of it. She had attempted to sit between Bruce and Natasha on the floor, who was simply vibrating with excitement to get to cuddle the Omega one again. But before she could Steve coaxed her, very cautiously, to come sit with him. So that's how Mercy ended up sitting sideways in Steve's lap, her head resting against his chest and Natasha ended up yanking Bruce into her arms and greedily cuddling him while shooting the Alpha a withering glare.

Steve simply chuckled at her. "You do realize you have to share her Natasha." He said with a soft smile.

"But she's the only other woman here! Can't have you guys tainting her!" She protested, making all of her mates burst out into laughter. This wasn't an uncommon thing for Natasha to do when a new mate joined the pack. When they had first met she cling to each one individually like a koala. No one minded, who would, it was endearing and they all supposed it was her way of processing having another important person around her and making sure they wouldn't leave. When Bucky had come along later on she'd done the same thing, although cautiously due to his past trauma. But Mercy has been the worst case of all of them, and maybe that was simply because she was an Omega and the missing link they'd been needing in their pack.

"Natasha's possessive behavior aside," Clint said, sticking his tongue out at her when she grumbled under her breath. "What do you guys want to watch?" He said as he used the remote to flip through suggestions.

"What about one of _The Great Culling_ movies?" Bruce suggested, watching as Clint and Tony both shook their head.

"Brucie, I don't think anyone here wants to listen to conspiracy theories on how to kill us." Tony said, watching as the Beta huffed and leaned more into Natasha.

"What about - " Bucky started but everyone, except for Mercy and Steve, hushed him in unison.

"Every movie you suggest is in black and white. We're trying to integrate you two into the modern movie world, not put us all to sleep." Clint chided, earning a soft grumble from the Alpha before he crossed his arms. A few minutes later Clint finally settled on one for the pack, _Night at The Museum._

Everyone quickly settled into the movie, the normally noisy pack falling silent as their eyes glued themselves to the TV screen, except for Mercy. She was interested in the movie, especially when a skeleton of a T-Rex suddenly started running around the museum, but at the same time she was more interested in observing her mates. They were all so calm right now, something that was very rare between her pack mates because of the life that they led. But right now was one of the rare times that all of her pack mates let loose, let themselves be vulnerable to each other. It was only in all of their other mates presence that they did this, if even a single bug was in the room with them the normal facades they had would be up in a second, and that included her. Mercy's eyes scanned over the people in the room, watching their small movements as they idly caressed one mates body one way or another - even Steve who was currently running his fingers through her hair.

The Omega had no clue how they all could do it, how they could all feel so safe in her presence. For years her family had ran away from HYDRA and SHIELD alike, she came from a pack of people who had killed and tortured others simply because someone else asked them to. Granted she herself had never done anything to harm anyone before, but still, it was in her blood to kill and harm. Yet these six people sat in the same room with her, played domestic games with her, held her to their body likes she was the most precious thing in the world to them. Even though the parents she so deeply loved had been part of the program to help traumatize Bucky and they all openly knew that, knew what kind of lineage she had behind her. Mercy didn't think she'd ever understand how they all could do it - simply set aside what her parents had done simply because she wore their marks. But whatever made that happen, whatever allowed them to smile at her, laugh with her, care for her, she was so grateful for. In the past few weeks she had felt like she actually belonged somewhere, that people wanted her around for the first time in years she felt like she actually had a purpose in the world. Not to simply be the daughter of one of the most wanted packs in HYDRA and SHIELD history. Looking over each person in the room Mercy realized she really never wanted to lose this, never wanted that feeling of belonging to be taken from her. Each person in this room was one of her mates, one of her _Soulmates_ , they were meant to make her feel safe and wanted and cared for, and her them in return. 

"Steve." Mercy whispered, prying her wondering eyes from the rest of her pack to look up at the Alpha she was cuddling into.

As soon as he heard his name from her lips, Steve's eyes snapped down to look at the woman in his lap. He was taken back a little at the look she harbored in her eyes. It wasn't the normal hesitancy she carried when she was with them, or the shyness, or the fear or uncertainty. It was a certain look of determination and acceptance, like she finally realized something that needed to be realized. Honestly, the look made all of his thoughts halt for a moment because it was so new to him that all he wanted to do was plaster the image and intensity behind it into his brain forever. "What is it, Sweetheart?" He finally managed to say.

Mercy looked up at the Alpha, watching as he seemed to study her much like she had studied the rest of the pack only moments before. "When we go home," She bit her lip. "I'd like to - if at all possible.. um." Mercy's heart slammed in her chest and she had no other choice but to look away from the face of the man in front of her. All of the determination that had welled inside of her suddenly shattered in order to give way to the insecurities that plagued her mind at any given time. They might be comfortable with her, but who would want to bind themselves to a monster like her? To bind themselves eternally to a daughter born to their enemies.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she completely missed the whispering of her mates around her. Steve, as soon as he noticed Mercy struggling to get her thoughts out, had quietly prompted Bucky to get Clint's attention to pause the movie. From there Bucky relayed the message like a game of telephone till finally Clint scrambled for the remote and paused it. "Sweetheart, look at me, please." Steve coaxed softly, waiting patiently for the Omega in his lap to comply. It took her a few moments, giving ample evidence to everyone in the room to just how deep inside her head she had pulled herself. When her silver eyes met his soft blue ones, Steve smiled. "There you are. Hello." He soothed softly, running his large hand through her soft strawberry hair. They had all noticed a while ago, after they new she was on suppressants, how she still somewhat exhibited Omega traits but much more muted. Like right now, how she suddenly became so buried in her thoughts was reminiscent of when an Omega was ready to drop. Mercy had exhibited this trait before a few times in the past two weeks, so this wasn't the first time they all watched their new mate struggle. "What were you trying to say?" Steve questioned softly to her.

"I-I" Mercy stuttered feebly.

"Doll, take a few breaths." Bucky chimed in, moving to scoot closer to his distressed mate. He was more than happy when she closed her eyes and did as he had told her. Taking breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth before she finally reopened her eyes. "Good. Ya feel better?" Mercy nodded in response. "That's good. Now, don't rush yourself, but we would love to know what you were trying to ask Stevie here."

Mercy looked at Bucky for a moment before glancing at Steve then looking at the rest of her mates, who were all looking at her with the same level of concern. "I was just - " She swallowed and took a breath. What had happened to all that determination and strength she had made earlier? It was all gone. No, no it wasn't, she had just buried it down because of her fear of being rejected. Of her fear that if she asked they'd all say no. Well, Steve would say no because he's head Alpha. She took a few long moments to look at all of her mates individually, taking them all in for what they were and then she felt it again. The feeling of never wanting to be apart from them for any reason again, because they were _her_ Soulmates. "When we get home I wanted to go sign the Soulmate papers." Mercy finally managed to get herself to say.

The room suddenly fell absolutely silent. Even the crickets that had been chirping outside took that moment to stop singing as all of her mates looked at her like she'd grown a second head. Mercy's heart raced in her chest as she frantically looked at everyone in the room, each of them seeming too scared to move, as if she'd suddenly flee. She wanted to take it back now, she shouldn't have asked, it was way too ambitious of her to ask. "I'm sorry. I take it back, we don't have to. I was just- I'm sorry I as asking too much."

"No." Tony suddenly said, being the first to break the surprised trance that held the pack. It was in this moment that the Alpha was severely irritated that the damn suppressants muted her scent, it made it much more difficult to tell properly how scared or anxious she actually felt. "You didn't ask too much of us, Darling."

"But-"

"No he's right." Bruce said as he looked up at her gently. "We want you apart of our pack. Permanently."

"Then why-"

"We were all shocked, Doll." Bucky said, reaching out with his flesh hand and offering it to her. Much to his enjoyment Mercy took it without hesitation and he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "None of us expected ya to want to sign those papers for a while yet. We've all been prepared to simply have you with us for a time. So we were all simply surprised when you asked."

"That doesn't mean we aren't over-joyed to hear you want to sign them, малышка." Natasha said as he leaned her head into Bruce's.

Gently Steve tangled his fingers in her hair, going from stroking her hair to holding it so he could look at her. Mercy's eyes went from Natasha's, when she was done speaking, to Steve's. Her eyes full of hope, but a calculated fear and hesitancy behind them. "If you are absolutely sure about this." Mercy frantically nodded, as much as she could anyways, making Steve smile widely. "Then when we get home, we'll go to city hall and you'll officially become our Omega." The Alpha rumbled happily. With Steve's permission and promise, it was like the room suddenly became charged with electricity from how much each mate, including Mercy, vibrated with excitement at the prospect of being a proper pack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you guys feel about that swimming scene? I was kind of unsure about it, almost deleted the whole thing and changed it.  
> I really hope you all are enjoying the story so far! I know it's slow, but I promise in future chapters it'll pick up. So just bare with me for a bit!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> малышка (MAH-Lysh-Kah) - Baby girl/Baby


	8. Bad to Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long for me to write.  
> Life decided to absolutely chaotic and hectic and just, ugh.  
> On top of that I got a hit hard with writers block and everything I wrote was just not good enough for you lovely people.  
> I really hope this was at least decent.

**Wednesday, 9:41am**

“Does everyone have everything they need?” Steve asked, looking out to the rest of the pack in front of him. There was a chorus of yeses and a few straggling grunts from the people in front of him, which made him smile. “Alright then, let's head out.” He ushered. Immediately everyone turned on their heels from facing their Head-Alpha to the sliding glass door they had entered the house with.

“I wish we could live here all the time.” Mercy whispered as she adjusted her duffel bag and followed after Natasha. A second later Tony, who was in front of her, gasped and hit his  chest with his hand dramatically.

“You wound me, I have worked very hard to make our prison-like tower hospitable.” Tony said with a grin as he looked back at the now floundering Omega.

“T-That’s not!- I-I didn’t mean -”

“Tony, don’t cause her to combust before we head into the jet, please.” Bucky growled softly with a shake of the head as Tony chuckled and turned to look at Clint. “Don’t take what that man says to heart, Doll.” He said, looking down at Mercy’s brightly coloured face before reaching out and gripping her wrist comfortingly. “He likes to twist everyone’s words. Especially when it makes you blush so pretty like that.” The Alpha all but purred.

“Bucky, I know you think you're helping. But I think you’re going to be the reason she spontaneously combusts.” Bruce pointed out as Mercy’s face only got redder. The poor Omega could only look down at the floor as she chewed on her lips. She was never going to be able to not react like this to their teasing. Living with as little social interaction as she has for so long has made her social skills weak, especially in situations like this. 

After that, everyone seemed to have lost interest in Mercy’s ever red face. Well, that’s what she assumed happened, she didn’t actually know that her mates were mercifully sparing her of their teasing to let her cool off. The pack clambered onto the jet like they had two days earlier, only this time Mercy was forced between Tony and Steve instead of Natasha and Bruce. The ride home was smooth and it seemed like everyone was actually enjoying the three hour long flight much more than they had before. It probably made a significant difference that now Tony and Mercy didn’t have a wedge between them like last time.

Roughly three hours later and Clint was landing the jet on the helicopter pad on the tower, someone would bring it back to the compound later. Once the jet was safely parked onto the cement landing pad everyone unbuckled and moved to grab their bags.

“Meet us back at the kitchen when you're done unpacking,” Clint said as he piled Natasha’s bags over his shoulder. “Bruce and Nat should have some kind of lunch sorted for us here pretty quick.” He said with a soft smile to Mercy before groaning as Natasha came up next to him and set another bag of hers on top of the others. “God Nat, you didn’t even wear three fourths of this!”

Natasha simply chuckled and crossed her arms. “Well if Tony hadn’t completely confined us to the property then maybe I would have had the chance!” The Beta pouted, giving Tony a small glare. The Alpha met it with an arched brow, a silent challenge. 

“You seem to have an attitude lately, do I need to remind you who’s in charge, my dear?” Tony rumbled playfully to Natasha. For the first time since Mercy had lived with her pack she saw a very faint blush colour the Beta’s cheeks as she turned around. “That’s what I thought!” Tony called out with a chuckle before stumbling as Bucky shoved him lightly from behind.

“Quit harassin’ people n’ get a move on.” He chided the smaller Alpha, earning a complying grumble as Tony followed after the rest of the pack. “Come on, Doll.” Bucky said, smiling gently to the stunned Omega. Mercy looked up at him and nodded before starting to walk out of the jet, stopping momentarily to reach backwards and capture Bucky’s metal hand. It took him by surprise and for a split second he wanted to pull away from her grasp, but he didn’t. This was a step in the right direction for their Omega to feel more comfortable with them, and he wouldn’t do anything to cause a setback.

Holding Bucky’s hand tightly and looking down at the ground, Mercy followed everyone into the tower. Once inside they all headed for the elevator, as the helicopter pad was a few floors below the residential floors. It was a tight fit, the elevator was most definitely not made to have two Alpha super soldiers and five other people with luggage inside of it. But they all made it work, keeping Mercy in front of them as they headed to the guest floor first. Well, they all referred to it as her floor at this point.

“Miss Wessex, we’ve arrived at your floor.” FRIDAY chimed through the speakers as the doors started to slide open.

“Thank you, FRIDAY.” Mercy said softly as she hastily took a step off of the packed elevator. When she turned to look back a small giggle left her as she watched the rest of her pack adjust to the new amount of free space, albeit a small amount.

“Meet us upstairs in about a half hour. We’ll have lunch done by then!” Bruce called out somewhere behind Bucky and Steve.

“Okay!” Mercy called back with a smile as she turned her back to the elevator as the doors closed. Her eyes scanned the room slowly, taking in the environment in front of her. Something just felt off about the room, like someone tampered with it. Cautiously Mercy walked further into her floor, taking small steps as her eyes scanned her surroundings. First she went through the living room, then the kitchen, nothing was out of place or moved. Maybe it was just her imagination, it wouldn’t be the first time she thought someone broke into her home. That specific anxiety was a constant occurrence when she lived in her older apartment. Granted it was warranted due to the fact she was a single, unmated, Omega who lived in a not so good part of town.

Taking a deep breath Mercy shook her head. “You're just inside your own head..” She mumbled quietly to herself. She lived in Tony Stark’s tower of all places, it was a fortress, no one was going to be able to break into here and get out without him being warned. Comforted by her trust in her mate’s abilities she headed to her bedroom. Throwing her bag onto her bed she unzipped it and started to unload the clothes that were in it. It took a few minutes to get all of her clothes out of the bag, especially with Natasha’s added portion of shorts. Which it seemed like the sneaky Beta had slipped a few extra pairs in with her own clothing at some point. Mercy was going to have to have a talk with her about that little stunt. 

Just as she grabbed the last few pieces of clothing from the bag she noticed a white envelope sitting at the bottom. Her brow scrunched in confusion. This wasn’t there a few days ago, was it? No, no, she had made sure it was completely empty before throwing her clothes into it. Hesitantly she grabbed the envelope, now noticing a small purple dot at the bottom left corner of the envelope. The site of it made her heart sink into her stomach and frantically she searched the other corners. On the top left were two red dots, the top right a green dot, and on the bottom right was a golden dot circled in black ink.

Tears welled in her eyes as she brought her other hand up to run her fingers slowly over the dots of ink. Unless someone suddenly knew her parents secret code for indicating who notes were for, this was genuinely from them. The two red dots indicated her birth mother and father, the head Alpha and Omega. The green dot was her Alpha mother and the purple one her Beta mother. The golden one circled in black ink was her own colour that they’d given her when she was younger. With shaky hands Mercy ever so carefully opened the envelope, slowly pulling out the paper that was within it before unfolding it. 

The note had three separate paragraphs, each written in different languages, starting with Russian, then French, then Gaelic. Being on the run for so many years her parents always made sure anything they left behind wouldn’t be easy to decipher. They’d told her many times that if she ever left a note for them to always write it in three separate languages. It was very unlikely for anyone to know all three, and even if they did find people to decipher it for them it’d give the author of the note time to come up with a back up plan. The site of it made the tears that were sitting in her eyes spill and run down her cheeks. It was really them, her parents had really reached out to her.

_ Our dearest daughter, we hope you are doing okay baby. We miss you so much every day. It’s been lonely in our many homes without your musical laughs and bubbly nature. _

_ But that was no way to have you continue living your life. We needed you to have a better life than us. A little birdy told us that you’ve found your mates, and they’ve accepted you. That’s all we ever wanted for you. _

_ Though we miss you dearly and are sad we aren’t able to see you face to face, we need you to remember the task we gave you those years ago. It is very important you find a way to contact Maria Hill and give her the books you are holding onto. We love you, our Golden Lily. _

Mercy’s grip on the note tightened as she read the last few words. A whirlwind of emotions raged inside of her chest. At first she was so happy to have proof her parents were still alive, that they cared about her enough to reach out. But that happiness was quickly tainted with anger and hurt at the realization that they didn’t reach out to her because they missed her. No, they would have done that long ago, they needed her to do something for them. Of course that’s what caused them to reach out, it made so much sense. While she loved her parents with all of her heart they were still a part of HYDRA at their core. They were cruel people, only doing what benefited them at all times. Even when she was young they’d been like that, and somehow they’d always disguise it as them doing something for her own good.

Bitter tears gushed from her eyes and she threw the note onto the ground as she bit her lip. It shouldn’t hurt as much as it did. They’d abandoned her long ago, told her she couldn’t be a part of their lives anymore because of who they were and what they’d done. But even though they broke her heart, Mercy still held hope within herself that one day they’d come back. That one day she’d open the door to her apartment and they would be standing there with their arms open wide. Every day of her life she’d hoped that would happen, that’s what kept her going for so long. Now that was no more, because they obviously didn’t want to see her if they couldn’t even take the time to talk to her personally.

Reaching up Mercy wiped at the tears that continued to flow down her face. Her parents didn’t deserve anymore tears from her, they’d gotten enough of them over the past four years. Even with that thought they still spilled and the Omega let out a frustrated whine at the knowledge that she couldn’t make them stop. No matter how many times she tried to convince herself to stop she couldn’t. Because at the end of the day, Mercy’s heart was forever scarred by the fact her parents sent her away with nothing more than a collection of paper and leather to remember them by. 

It took her about ten minutes to finally stop crying and in that time she had crawled onto the bed, not caring about the clothes that were scattered on it, and simply curled herself into a tight ball. Tucking her head into her knees she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, letting her fingers dig into the fabric of her jeans. Old wounds were being ripped open harshly inside her head and heart, ones her own family had put there unknowingly. Maybe she was being childish about this whole thing right now. It had been years since they asked her to leave, a year since she had last cried about them, she should be over it all by now. But for now, this is what she wanted to do, sit alone in her room and cry. Cry till her throat hurt and her breathing shook with hiccups. It might not be rational or healthy or whatever else, but that’s all she could feel right now. The need to grieve for an old loss.

**Wednesday, 12:31pm**

Everyone sat at the dining table, glancing between each other as they waited for Mercy to arrive. She was late by about ten minutes, and even then there seemed to be no sign of her. This wasn’t normal for her in the slightest and they all knew that. Even though the Omega wasn’t under any proper obligation to listen to anyone one of them she always did. Many times over she was even early. So this lateness made everyone of their hackles rise.

“Should we - “ Bruce started.

“No, let's give 'er a few more minutes. I’m sure she just needed some alone time.” Bucky supplied as he looked to the Beta, who simply nodded his head in acceptance and turned his gaze back to the papers next to his plate. Another five minutes went by that the pack quietly waited.

“FRIDAY,” Tony started, looking at Bucky who just nodded. “Please remind Mercy that she needs to come eat with us.” A moment went by before the AI spoke in response.

“Miss Wessex has asked to skip this meal.” FRIDAY responded. The room was suddenly filled with thick concern as everyone looked to each other. Had they pushed her by accident while at the beach house? Was she regretting asking to sign the papers? If that was the case they’d all happily forget that she even asked, if it meant she’d stay by their sides.

“Tell her no she needs to eat.” Steve said lightly.

“Miss Wessex has altered her request: She’d like to eat alone on her floor.” FRIDAY replied. 

“One of us will bring her a plate.” Bucky said before looking at Steve, worry lacing his expression. The Head Alpha simply returned his lover's look before rising from his seat and retrieving the plate they had set aside for her.

“Go ahead and start eating guys.” He informed softly, all of them taking the order as a silent command not to dwell on their Omega mate. Though they all knew he knew that wasn’t something that could be easily done. With plate in hand Steve walked to the elevator. A few moments later the Alpha was walking off of it, looking around the empty apartment. “Mercy?” He called out softly, poking his head into the kitchen before wandering to the living room. Seeing no sign of her he looked to the closed door of her room.

After approaching it he knocked lightly. “Mercy, I have your food.” He called out. From within the room he heard a small sniffle followed by a deep breath before the shuffling of fabric. After what seemed like a year the Omega opened the door and the sight of her made Steve’s heart clench painfully. Her silver eyes were rimmed with red puffy skin, dried and fresh streams of tears coating her flushed cheeks. When he looked at her all he could see was pain in her glassy eyes, a pain that seemed to go so deep that it shook every nerve in her body. It simply stunned him.

“Thank you..” She whispered, her voice hoarse. If she wasn’t already trying to hold back her heart breaking cries she’d have cleared her throat as when she spoke it caused slight discomfort. Reaching out with her small hand she took the edge of the plate in her grasp and pulled softly, but Steve didn’t let go as she thought he would. 

“What happened?” He asked, looking at her with large pleading blue eyes. His Alpha was roaring at him to take away her pain. To wrap his arms around her and sooth away the ache that she was feeling. “Did we do something? Is it about signing the papers? We don’t need to if you don’t want Mercy. We all want you to be comfortable here and -”

The Omega shook her head frantically. “It’s nothing you did. None of you guys did anything, I promise.” She whispered, letting her gaze fall from his. 

“Then why - “

“Please, Steve.” She pleaded, bringing her gaze back up to his. The pain that was there was now mixed with a soft wounded plea. “Don’t ask questions about it. Just know it’s nothing you all did - and I’ll still sign the papers. I still want to, I want to be a part of the pack properly. Not today though, tomorrow. Tomorrow will be our happy day.” She said, but as she spoke it was more as if she was trying to convince herself of the words she spoke.

Steve could do nothing but simply nod even though it pained him to do so and the Alpha within him was clawing at his chest for leaving his Omega in such a state. If that is what she needed from him then he would give it to her. Finally he let go of the plate he held in his hand, letting her take it into her grasp. Before she could step away though the Alpha leaned down and placed a soft affectionate kiss on top of her head. “We are here if you need anything from us.”

“I know.” She whispered back before pulling away from him, giving him a watery smile, and closing the door leaving the Alpha to wonder on his own.

Even though the Omega had been rather protective of the room, evident by the fact she had only opened the door enough to allow her own body through, Steve had managed to gather some environmental intel. Behind her on the bed were the books her parents had given her, scattered around not so neatly on top of the blankets. Sitting on top of one of them was an unfolded sheet of paper. Where had that come from? Was that what caused her so much distress? With those questions in his mind Steve left Mercy’s floor and went back to the pack floor, where he presented the information he had learned to the rest of them.

The rest of the day went by sluggishly for all of them. Mercy refused to leave her room, no matter how many times they asked FRIDAY to call for her. The Omega stayed put, and none of them wished to push her out of whatever comfort she found in locking herself in her room. Whatever was causing their newest mate so much pain they obviously couldn’t help with, even if they could she wasn’t letting them. The only one of them that wasn’t completely eaten away by not being able to help Mercy was Tony. Who was almost completely wrapped up in the fact that FRIDAY had been down for exactly three minutes and fifty two second while they were gone. The tower had remained powered during the time, and when she was brought back online she had done a thorough sweep of the tower and found nothing to be out of place or gone. The Alpha had to admit begrudgingly that when he was forced to replace JARVIS (now Vision) with FRIDAY he hadn’t ironed out all of the kinks within her coding. So this was more than likely one of them.

**Thursday, 10:25am**

Mercy looked at herself in the bathroom mirror and sighed softly. She had dark circles under her eyes from not sleeping all night. They weren’t as bad as some people but still, they were there. She’d been in a vicious cycle all night: first she would cry, then she would try to stop and start to hyperventilate, then she’d simply stare into the darkness of her room, repeat. About four hours ago did the cycle stop and when she stared at the wall that was lit up by the sun pouring into her room, she didn’t feel the pain. It was still there, even when she looked at herself in the mirror it was there, but it was less. She could manage it now, it didn’t feel like it was consuming her whole being anymore. On top of that there was a certain feeling that replaced the missing pain. A feeling of determination. If her parents simply wanted to use her as a delivery girl then fine, she’d be the best damn delivery girl they’d ever had.

Leaning down she turned on the water and cupped some of it in her hands, splashing it in her face. She did this a few times before reaching out and taking a towel and drying off her face. When she looked back at her own reflection she was slightly pleased to see that the look of pain was mostly gone and what was left was what she had seen for the past four years. Her parents pushed her out of their lives against her will, but she was going to do as they wanted her to do. Build a new life for herself, one that didn’t entail hiding in the shadows and wondering where she needed to run next.

Maybe this is what she needed to do once a month or so. Just let herself wallow in pain and grief for almost twelve hours before returning to the world. Mercy narrowed her eyes at herself in the mirror at that thought. It sounded vaguely familiar to how her Omega mother described Omega drops. Everything would build up inside of them, emotions, stress and when it got too much they’d have to go to an Alpha to help them release. But she hadn’t used an Alpha, and she’d always been a broken Omega, ever since she’d presented when she was thirteen. Hell, she hadn’t even had heat since her first one. Just add it to the pile of things that were broken inside her she supposed.

Now that was feeling mostly like herself Mercy finally felt up to seeing her mates. Any of them really, because right now all she wanted was so curl up on someone's lap and cuddle them. Walking out of the bathroom she looked at the books that lay on her bed still, the flashlight laying next to one of them. She’d looked inside one of them, wanting to know what her parents needed her to hand off. It had stunned her to see her Alpha father’s name written under the test subject and almost immediately she had shut the book and shoved it away. They were giving away information on themselves to someone else, someone unknown to her but trusted by them.

No. She wasn’t going to think about them right now. She’d given them enough of her time. Right now it was her mates turn to have her time and attention. It was her turn to do something she wanted with her life and signing those papers today was something she definitely wanted to do. Tearing her eyes from the books and doing her best to shove her parents to the back of her mind she left her bedroom and headed to the elevator.

“Friday?” The Omega asked softly.

The AI chimed to life immediately. “Yes Miss Wessex?”

“Where are my mates?” Mercy asked as the elevator dinged and the doors opened, allowing her to walk in.

“Boss and Dr.Banner are currently in their lab, Miss Romanov and the Captain are in the gym and Sergeant Barnes and Mr. Barton are in the pack area.” The AI replied dutifully.

“Can you bring me to the pack floor then?”

“Of course.” The AI said before the elevator doors closed and the elevator started to move. A moment later Mercy was thanking FRIDAY as she walked off of the elevator. Walking onto the floor she could hear the sounds of the TV ringing softly in the hall way. It sounded like gunshots.

“Bucky, you’re cheating, again!” Clint whined.

“Not my fault I can aim better.” The Alpha taunted, earning a disapproving grumble from the Beta. Slowly Mercy walked into the room looking at her two mates who were currently sitting side by side, controllers in hand and eyes glued to the screen. The Omega stood quietly off to the side, watching as the two men played the game on screen. A little bit later the split screen came up with two words. On the top the word WINNER blinked while the word LOSER shone brightly on the bottom.

“Rematch!” Clint barked out, only earning a chuckle from the Alpha as he set down the controller.

“We’ve rematched three times Clint. I don’t think a fourth would change anythin’” Bucky hummed triumphantly, a broad smile gracing his lips. Clint simply huffed, setting his own controller down next to Bucky’s, a pout settled on his lips. “Aw come on. Don’t be poutin’ like that.” He soothed, leaning over and capturing his lover’s lips with his own. The Alpha kissed languidly, simply letting the pouting Beta slowly melt into the warmth and reassurance he flooded into the kiss. After a few moments Bucky pulled back, a knowing grin on his face. “Feel better now?”

Clint pulled away reluctantly, though there was a small twinkle in his eyes. “I suppose I am.. But not completely..” He said, moving slightly more into Bucky’s side, making the other male all to enthusiastically recapture his lips with a small growl.

At this point Mercy’s face was completely engulfed with a red blush. Not only were they doing this in the pack living room, but unknowingly in front of her. Slowly she started to walk backwards, thankfully the doorway was behind the couch so sneaking back out of the room wasn’t a hard task. Once she was out Mercy all but ran to the elevator, simply to get off of the floor before her two mates escalated. Not that she was repulsed by the show, but she just wasn’t ready to see that or experience it. The elevator let out a small ding to signal its arrival and Mercy let out a relieved breath, but it was too soon for that. As soon as the doors opened it revealed Steve and Natasha, sweaty and still in their work out clothes.

Natasha’s attention was instantly taken from Steve as she saw the Omega standing in front of them, completely and utterly flustered and flushed. While she was surprised to see her mate out of her room, she was also concerned as to why she was in the state she was in. “You okay Hun?” She asked softly.

If Mercy’s face could get any redder it would. “Y-Yeah..” She squeaked out. Though her answer obviously didn’t convince either mate in front of her as Natasha looked at Steve with a cocked eyebrow.

  
“If anything is bothering you Sweetheart you can tell us. Don’t got to go into detail or anything, but the basics.” He assured her gently, attempting to coax a better answer from her. 

Mercy chewed at her lips nervously. “N-Nothing like that I just.. It’s just..” She faltered pitifully and looked down at the carpet under her feet, shifting from foot to foot nervously. As if some higher power took mercy on the poor Omega, a quiet moan echoed slightly through the halls. Almost on cue Mercy’s ears turned bright red. Natasha groaned in irritation as she pushed past Mercy while Steve simply pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

Natasha’s voice could be easily heard in the hallway. “What did we agree on about sex in public places you guys!” She scolded, exasperation lacing her voice. Whatever the two of them had replied was lost into the abyss as there were two small thumps and grumbled ows from the two men. “No, it wasn’t safe. The poor thing is probably scared beyond belief right now! You're a master assassin, you should have heard her, and you," There as a brief pause in the female Beta's intense chiding. "You have your hearing-aids in! You can’t even use that excuse!” 

Steve was now doing his damnedest to keep his laughter light and quiet as the two of them simply stood there and listened. “She gives one hell of a scolding, I’ll tell you what.” Steve chuckled to Mercy, watching as the blush was slowly receding from her cheeks and ears and a mirthful smile was tugging at her lips. Good, he needed to see her smile, needed to experience her happiness. After seeing her in such a state last night it had eaten him alive that he couldn’t help her at that moment, that she wouldn’t let him. She didn’t let anyone for that matter. So seeing her like this really helped patch up those small wounds.

After a few moments Natasha popped her head out from the doorway. “Come on малышка, our two boys have something to tell you.” She hummed, holding out her hand to encourage the other woman to come to her.

Hesitantly Mercy walked back to the doorway, Steve following close behind her. Once close enough she reached out and took Natasha’s hand, squeezing it to reassure herself. The small amount of contact made her feel better suddenly. After last night she knew this is what she needed. She needed her mate's touch to make her feel stable, whole once again. Gently the older female tugged her into the room, where her two previously scolded mates were sitting on the couch a cushion apart and looking down at the floor. Natasha guided Mercy to stand in front of the two of them, clearing her throat before the two men looked up at the two woman. 

“I’m real sorry, Doll. I didn’t hear you come in. Wouldn’t ‘ave tried to nestle up with Clint out here if I knew.” The Alpha lamented.

“Same here Mercy.” Clint chimed in afterwards.

The Omega instinctively put her hands out in front of herself in a non-threatening manner. “I-It’s okay, really. I’m sure that was normal before I kind of threw a wrench into things.” She said before worrying her lips between her teeth. “It’s n-not like I didn’t like seeing it..” Mercy’s eyes went wide at her words. “I - I mean! Y-Your my mates and I’m sure that t-this isn’t an uncommon thing to b-be around.” Mercy hastily added, now looking down at the ground as she willed the blush that was colouring her face once again to go away. God she needed to not be so shy around them, but she couldn’t help it really, they were the Avengers for Gods sake!

All four mates looked between each other, the two Alpha’s doing their best to hold back wolfish grins while Natasha smiled all the while locking eyes with Clint and daring him to tease their shy mate. “Well now that we settled that,” Natasha said suddenly leaning in to place a soft kiss on Mercy’s cheek. “I’m glad to see you are feeling better.”

“Yeah, I am for the most part.” Mercy said softly.

“Are you hungry at all? Want me to whip you up a snack?” Natasha asked.

“Actually,” Steve interjected. “I think it would be a good idea for us to go to city hall now, before it gets absolutely full of other people. If you still want to go sign those papers that is.” Steve stated hopefully.

“Yeah, yeah of course. That’s part of the reason why I ventured out of my room anyways.”

“What was the other reason?” Clint asked.

“Um… I..” Mercy looked up at the ceiling, as if the tiles there could somehow help her gain confidence. “I-I wanted to just c-cuddle someone for a little bit..” She squeaked out. This time her mates couldn’t keep their reactions to themselves and they all busted out laughing softly, making Mercy look between them frantically.

“You are too damn cute, you know that Doll.” Bucky remarked between his chuckles affectionately.

“F-Forget I said anything!” She yelped, quickly setting her gaze down to the ground as the all to normal blush quickly engulfed her face. “C-come on Steve lets go.” She said as she walked towards said man. Holding out her hand to him.

“Oh poor Omega.” Steve purred softly to her, a large teasing grin plastered to his lips. Reaching out he took her small hand into his large one and squeezed ever so softly to give his mate some kind of reassurance against their teasing. “Let me take a quick shower and change first."

**Thursday, 11:22am**

“You know,” Steve started as he looked over at Mercy. “The only way we are going to be proper soulmates in the eyes of our government is if you actually fill out the paperwork.” He pointed out, seeing as the Omega had only filled in three lines out of three pages of questions.

Mercy jumped at the sound of her mate's voice. Honestly he had been so quiet she had completely forgotten he was sitting right next to her, filling out the same exact papers as her. “S-Sorry..” She stuttered softly, her eyes scanning over the questions in front of her.

“It’s alright.” Steve said, setting down the pen he was holding on top of the clipboard he had. “Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked gently, turning his gaze fully to her.

“Yes!” Mercy answered all too quickly, looking up at him with soft pleading eyes. “I just.. I didn’t realize how big of a step this was for me until it was right in front of me.” Mercy said before looking down at the offending papers. “I’ve been alone since I was sixteen, well, more like since I was eighteen. But still. I never imagined I’d ever be able to do this. Sit down with my mates, or my  _ Soulmates  _ for that matter. I just always assumed I’d be alone, fending for myself and never being able to settle with anyone because of all the dangers that come with being around me.” She took a breath, doing her best to ground herself. “But now I finally get to experience that. I get to experience having a pack of my own - and that just.. It feels surreal to me. Like one day I’ll open my eyes and it’ll all just be gone.” Mercy said as her fingers ran slowly over the typed words on the page in front of her.

Steve sat attentive, listening to what his mate had to say before nodding in understanding. “I know what you mean.” He said before reaching out with one of his hands and cupping one of hers with it. “That’s how I felt with everyone when we first found out. I’m sure they had the same or relatively similar feelings to that when we found out. It took us a long time, way longer than you did, to even want to come here and sign these. We were all divided on whether it was safe enough for us to do it. But I really think it was because we were all just scared this would be taken away.” A warm smile formed on his lips as he looked at her. “But we’re all still here, still together. We have our bumps and hiccups, that’s for sure, but we still have each other and no one is going anywhere in our pack. That includes you.” Steve assured softly before leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on Mercy's forehead.

Learning that she wasn’t the only one to have felt like this in the pack helped to soothe the anxieties that flared inside of her. Leaning forward she pressed her forehead against Steve’s chin, sighing at the comforting touch. “Okay.” She finally said after a quiet moment. “I think I can get this done now.”

“Good,” Steve said after giving her one final kiss on the head before returning to his own paperwork. He’d done this five other times so he was almost done with his after only about five minutes or so. “The rest of the pack is probably bouncing off of the walls at home.” He mused as he scribbled down an answer. 

Mercy blushed ever so slightly, but a warm smile graced her lips. “Everyone always seems to get very excited about anything when it comes to me.” She pointed out quietly, finally picking up her pen and moving to fill in the blank spaces.

Steve let out an agreeing hum. “That’s because you’re out last mate.” He paused for a moment. “Well hopefully. Not that having another would be bothersome but, we’ve got seven in our pack now. From Tony’s extensive research while we waited for your mark to show up the largest reported pack was eight. But with you being an Omega I don’t think we’ll be having any more members join our pack.” He said softly.

Mercy nodded in acknowledgement. So she was more than likely the last one to be joining their pack. No wonder they all seemed to be so excited, they could finally stop having to worry about if there was another out there simply waiting for them. Even though the thought of not having to add any new members should have soothed her, it caused a pang of anxiety to run through her. Did that mean she needed to be the missing piece of the puzzle for all of her mates? That’s how this worked, right. They were soulmates, so they were obviously perfect for each other (or close to it she supposed), flaws and all. So did that mean that whatever problems they were having were suddenly hers to fix? What if she didn’t or couldn’t fix it, that’d make her a failure in her own part of being in the pack. A small pinching sensation on her arm pulled her back to reality.

“Ow!” She whined softly, bringing her opposite hand up to rub at the site.

“I could practically hear your thoughts Mercede.” Steve pointed out a bit sternly to her, a look of questioning on his face. The Omega just sighed and focused on her papers again, moving to fill in more of the blanks.

“Sorry.. I was just.. Over thinking.. I do that a lot.” She mumbled, as if that was a good enough answer. For Steve it wasn’t, but the Alpha decided to drop the subject for now and let her work on filling out the paperwork, seeing as he himself was done.

After a good twenty minutes of Mercy muttering in frustration and Steve going back and forth between hiding snickers and helping her through the paperwork, it was finally done. Handing it to him with slightly shaky and clammy hands Mercy smiled. This was it, she was finally going to be a part of a pack properly, and there was no turning back. As she watched Steve stand and bring the papers to the receptionist her heart raced with a mix of excitement and fear. Not because she was scared of being tied to her mates indefinitely, but because suddenly this was like walking into a void of the unknown. This is what everyone had been waiting the past few weeks for. Now it was here and past, where did they go from there?

Steve returned to her quickly. The Alpha could just faintly scent her mixed emotions that raced through her scent like a whirlwind. He had to admit, he was rather excited to get her off of the blockers, simply to know what she properly scented like. “Ready to go?” He asked softly, knowing from the previous two weeks that their Omega tended to get overwhelmed rather easily. “Or do you need to sit more?”

Mercy looked up at the large Alpha, taking a deep quiet breath she shook her head. “No, I’m ready to go home, I think.” She said before pushing herself up out of the chair she sat in. Hastily she took the hand he offered before they started walking out of the building. It was about ten minutes or so into their walk that Mercy spoke up. “Are we.. Are we going to talk about new pack stuff now that I’m a part of it?” She asked quietly, her gaze stuck on the cement sidewalk.

“If you want to.” Steve replied, his gaze trained on their surroundings. Sadly it wouldn’t be the first time he and someone with him had gotten attacked by an enhanced or Hydra. So staying vigilant even on leisure walks was critical to keep himself and his partner safe. “I was going to do it tomorrow, to let you settle in on the idea that you're officially apart of the pack now.”

She shook her head. “No I don’t.. I don’t think that would be a good idea..” She admitted quietly, her grip on his hand tightening momentarily. “I just.. I’d like to get it done with today if possible.. If everyone isn’t super busy. Because tomorrow I might be too scared or anxious or whatever else..” She swallowed. 

Steve simply smiled sweetly at her. “Of course, Sweetheart. If that’s how you feel then we’ll get it done today. But I’ll warn you right now, when we talk about the rules, expectations, and punishments, we aren’t going to sugar coat anything. It’ll be blunt and out in the open so no one can get upset later. But everyone is allowed speak up about anything."

Mercy nodded in understanding. “That’s okay. I’ll be able to handle it.” She assured him quietly. Yeah, she’d be able to handle this. It was just talking and understanding the does and don’ts nothing to intense or exhausting should happen... Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said before hope the chapter was at least decent to read.  
> I wrote the first half like two days after I posted the last chapter before everything crashed and burned around me, so if you picked up on a serious tone change I am so sorry. I tried to keep it as fluent as possible!
> 
> As always thank you so much for reading and being so patient!  
> Y'all are seriously my life blood!


	9. Believe me, Help me

**Thursday, 2:27pm**

Mercy sat on the three seater leather couch in the pack living room. Clint was sitting next to her, currently being used as a pillow by herself. On the large flat screen TV the movie  _ Marley and Me _ . It was an older sappier movie but it turns out Clint actually liked those kinds of movies. Not that the rest of them new of course, the only reason Mercy knew now was because she didn’t know movie genres well and he’d confessed his secret love of them to her. Of course the Omega was under strict promise to keep it between the two of them.

The somewhat jittery young woman looked at the time on her phone for the hundredth time. Three minutes till the pack meeting, three minutes till everything was going to be official-official. Did that make sense, it made sense to Mercy anyways. Every-time she looked at the time, an anxious tick she had developed, it caused anxiety to slowly swell inside of her chest. Funny how that happens. 

When Steve and her had gotten home a few hours ago he had asked FRIDAY to inquire about everyone’s current tasks. Turns out Bucky was in a session with Dr.Cho and Shuri, along with Tony and Bruce being in the middle of sensitive scientific research. So Steve decided they’d do it later, at 2:30 to be exact. Mercy wasn’t too happy about that, having to move the time that is. She knew that whatever confidence she had managed to recover was going to be gone by then and she’d be an anxious worried mess the whole time. But her mates' well being and responsibilities came first.

“Mercy,” Clint whispered, looking down at her seeing as she had her head in his lap. He had the remote in his hand, the movie no longer playing as he had paused it. When did he do that? “You’re going to give me anxiety with how it’s rolling off of you.” The Beta teased softly, a gentle teasing look in his eyes.

“S-Sorry..” She stuttered, her cheeks flushing slightly as she quickly looked to the TV.

“It’s alright.” He assured, setting down the remote before he very carefully ran his fingers through her shoulder length hair. It had surprised him earlier when he walked in and saw her huddled up on the couch staring at the time on her phone. Surprised him even more when he came to her side and she sprawled out in his lap. Not that he was complaining, a pretty lady laying her head in his lap and seeking comfort. It was adorable and endearing, but it also showed how worried - scared even - she was. “The meeting isn’t going to be bad Mercy. No one is going to attack you or anything. It’s all about discussing the pack rules, dynamic, expectations. Then if anyone has any questions or wants to change anything we can talk it over. As a pack.” Clint said softly.

“I know.” Mercy said, an ever so slight whine hiding in her tone. “I just - I don’t know.. I’m nervous about everything right now. Everything is new and uncharted.. I don’t do well with either of those.” She confessed quietly. Clint sighed ever so slightly before bending over and placing a soft kiss on her forehead before resting his own against it. This little mate of his was a ball of anxiety, and he understood that, they all did. They all understood what it was like not to know, not to understand what was next and where to go. It was frustrating, scary at the best of times and absolutely terrifying at the worst of times. All they could hope to do for her was make sure she knew they were with her, on her side through it all.

Before Clint had the time to articulate any of the thoughts on his mates anxieties he heard the tell tale  _ ding  _ of the elevator. “No more time to worry.” He said softly, moving to sit back up. “Seems like the rest of them are here.” Just as he said that Steve walked in, the playful and soft look he normally wore gone, replaced by one worn by a Head Alpha about to discuss his packs well being. Following behind him was Bucky and Tony, who were in turn shadowed by Bruce and Natasha.

As soon as the female Beta set eyes on Mercy a soft smile pulled at her lips and she pushed through the men in front of her. A few grunts and one or two snorts were heard as she hastily made her way to the couch she was sitting on. Once there Natasha plopped down onto the leather couch, her legs popping up into the air before settling down on the floor. “Ready to be completely a part of the pack, Honey?” She hummed, excitement lacing her words as she looked to her fellow mate.

Mercy, who had sat up as soon as Clint had announced everyone else's arrival, looked to her nervously but nodded her head with a smile. “Y-Yeah.” She stuttered softly.

“We’re not gonna eat ya or anything, Doll.” Bucky teasingly chimed in from his spot on the arm chair, Bruce sitting comfortably between his legs as the Alpha carded his fingers through his brown hair. He hoped to cut out some of the tension and anxiety he could see in his newest mate, wanting this talk to be as smooth for her as it was going to be for them. Well - that was wishful thinking on both ends. 

“I k-know.. I know…” Mercy said, turning her gaze to the floor as she fidgeted with the fabric of her jeans.

Simply wishing to prevent anymore anxiety from welling up inside of the Omega, Steve spoke up. “Is everyone ready for the pack meeting to start?” He asked firmly, but not unkindly. Everyone nodded their heads, including Mercy. “Tony, you have FRIDAY recording this?” The other Alpha nodded his head. “Good. Before we start I want to remind everyone that questions, concerns, additions or subtractions are encouraged. These aren’t just rules to make your lives harder or more stressful, these are rules to help keep everyone safe and cared for equally. Of course, you all have your own individual rules that we can add to or subtract from at a later date. This meeting however is simply establishing rules as a full pack along with Omega rules. Does everyone understand?”

Once again everyone nodded, almost in unison. Steve smiled happily towards his mates before speaking. “Alright, first rule, and this one is going to be a new one for everyone: No leaving the tower without someone with you. There have been too many times that a bad situation could have been turned into an okay situation simply due to having another person with you. We’ve all got a target or two, maybe even four, on our backs due to what we do and our pasts. Any questions or objections?” Steve looked to Clint as he watched the Beta's hand shoot up into the air. The Alpha nodded towards him, silent permission for him to speak.

“What if there’s no one to go with us? Like if someone else has already left with a ‘bus buddy’ but everyone else is busy with important things.” Clint inquired.

Steve nodded as he listened. “If the task can’t wait to be done until someone is available then inform FRIDAY of where you are going and roughly when you will be back. That way if you don’t come back in time we’ll know something happened. Seem reasonable?” Clint nodded in content before leaning back into the couch. “Does everyone else agree to those terms?” Everyone agreed in varying responses. “Second rule, and Tony’s absolute favorite, ten pm is when everyone should be in bed. Doesn’t mean you have to be asleep just be in your room, or the pack bedroom, relaxing and letting yourself recharge is all I want. Our pack tends to forget to take care of ourselves before the world. Don’t worry about forgetting or not knowing because FRIDAY already has a protocol for it in place.” His gaze changed from bouncing between his mates, monitoring reactions and looking to see if anyone had a question, to zeroing in on Mercy.

The Omega squirmed under his sudden gaze. “Mercy, starting tonight you too are going to have to start following that rule. Now that you're completely a part of the pack that means these are your rules too. Do you have any concerns regarding the rule?”

Nervously Mercy chewed her lip and shook her head. “N-No..” She mumbled, keeping her gaze aimed at her hands that were folded in her lap.

Steve simply nodded before turning his gaze back to the rest of his pack, who hastily expressed their acceptance of the rule. “Third rule, be respectful to all pack members no matter the circumstance. This means respecting boundaries, verbal and nonverbal cues, others quiet times or ‘safe’ areas, what they need to feel cared for. You all are usually really good about this rule, and I am so proud of you all for that. That being said - this also extends to any and all arguments. We’re a big pack, a lot of personalities so there will be conflicts. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be solved in a civil manner. That means no cussing at each other, threatening each other, physically or mentally hurting each other, if you think it could be harmful, don’t do it.” The Alpha’s tone became more firm, but there was a simple passion behind it. This rule meant a lot to him by the sounds of it, and by the way he was looking at everyone so intently, there was no way he’d budge on anything about this.

After everyone agreed once again, he continued. “Alright, last rule, no drinking in excess. We’re all adults here, Tony likes to throw parties for one reason or another.” Said mate let out a small encouraging whoop, making a few of them chuckle. “And we’re all adults, so drinking is of course something we do. But only in acceptable amounts, there is no reason anyone of you needs to drink till you black out. With that being our last rule, the punishments for breaking any of these are either spankings, mouth washing, groundings, or corner time. Anyone have anything else they’d like to add?” Everyone shook their heads, making Steve hum in thought.

“Alright, that’s all the pack rules. Now,” He turned his attention to the three Betas. “Regarding dynamic, do any of you want to change placement? After this it’ll be completely official, no turning back.”

Natasha instantly looked to Bruce and tilted her head. “Are you sure you’re fine with being third and not first? Not that I don’t enjoy it - but you are the oldest of us three.”

The brunette shook his head, but he smiled fondly towards his female mate. “I think it’s better for me and the pack with me having the other guy, I don’t want to take any chances.” Natasha nodded slowly in understanding, her eyes soft as she regarded Bruce before turning to Steve. 

“We’ll keep our old placements then.” She said.

“Hey!” Clint said, leaning forward. “Don’t I get a say in this too!”

The redhead arched a brow at her fellow Beta and mate. “Do you want to get your ass kicked in rock, paper, scissors again?”

Clint narrowed his eyes at her, as if calculating a tough opponent before huffing and crossing his arms. “No..” He grumbled.

“Alright then,” Steve chimed in with a small shake of his head. Even during times of seriousness someone in the pack managed to make it less tense, and honestly he wouldn’t change that for the world. “So the dynamic is myself, Tony, and Bucky for Alphas, then Natasha, Clint, and Bruce for Betas, followed by our one and only Omega, Mercy.” He turned his head to Tony. “Did FRIDAY get all that?”

Tony instantly looked down at his phone and tapped away. A few moments later the sound of Steve’s voice chimed from the phone. “Yup, she got it all.” He said waving the phone toward the Head Alpha.

“If anyone forgets any of what we talked about here or needs a reminder, you can listen to that. Now, onto Omega rules.” Just like before his attention suddenly shifted from the pack as a whole to Mercy. “These rules are specifically for you, and are for the most part between you and us Alphas. We’ve” Steve gestured to himself, then Tony, then Bucky. “Taken into consideration what we’ve learned about you in the past few weeks, and we believe these rules will help not only you, but us take better care of you. Just like with the pack rules, if you have any questions or want to add or subtract something don’t be afraid to ask. Okay?”

Mercy nodded her head, though the young Omega sat with her back ram-rod straight as her muscles tensed. She wasn’t scared, she was just nervous. “Okay.” She parroted.

“First Omega rule, if you feel like you need to drop, inform one of us Alphas. Or if it makes you feel more comfortable, you can tell one of the Betas and they will come get us for you. Right now we don’t know your scent very well, so it’s hard for us to tell if you need one or not. So it’s really important for us and you that you do this.” 

Mercy nodded along as she listened. Though this wasn’t something she’d actually need to worry about. Dropping wasn’t something she’d ever experienced. Her mother had told her about it ever so briefly, like most of the things that came with being an Omega. But she’d never experienced it herself, never felt the need to like she was supposed to. It was one of the many things that were in her personal pile of ‘broken things.’

“Second rule, ask for dommings if you need them. But this comes is a two way street. Us three need to dom regularly, and while doing it with Natasha, Clint, or Bruce does help, it doesn’t help as much as doing it with you would. So we may come to you for a dom session before you ask, doesn’t mean wait for us to ask. Understand?” A look of confusion crossed Mercy’s face for just a second. Dommings? Her mother had never mentioned that, from the way Steve spoke of them they seemed highly important. Maybe it was another one of her ‘broken’ traits. The Omega let out an agreeing hum nonetheless.

Steve, along with all the others, noticed the confusion that riddled Mercy’s face at the mention of dommings. Did she not know what they were? Surely she does, she had to have been dommed at least once in her life. All Omegas did, it was just a biological thing. “Third rule,” Steve continued a little apprehensively, if she didn’t ask then maybe they all read into it wrong. It wouldn’t have been the first time with her. “This one is only temporary since you're underage, but no drinking unless you are with one of us. You’re not of age yet, you shouldn’t really be drinking but if the rest of us are then I’m not going to hold you back from indulging in the fun as well.” Perfectly acceptable rule, Mercy agreed.

“Fourth rule, when you start to feel anxious, or nervous, or scared, or anything really, tell one of us about it. Not just us Alphas, it can be anyone one of us. You tend to get anxious easily, and letting those thoughts build up without an outlet can very easily make you need to drop quicker, even force you into an unguided drop and that isn’t something we want - ever. It also will help us tell if you need to drop already and that’s why your thoughts are so wild.” Mercy nodded in understanding. “Last rule, no sexually touching yourself without asking an Alpha permission first. We’re supposed to be helping you keep yourself balanced, so knowing when you get like that helps us out a lot.”

Mercy simply nodded her consent once again. All of those rules seemed reasonable, nothing over the top. There were a lot of them, especially since she had Omega rules along with pack ones, but she’d managed. This is what it meant to be in a pack, especially as an Omega. Looking up at Steve she expected for the meeting to be over, they’d talked about everything they needed to in order to officiate them being a pack, rules and dynamics had been established. What more was there? Too tunnel-visioned was she on the Head-Alpha that she missed how everyone else glanced at each other. The air shifted from comfortable discussion to a nervous situation. Though the Omega wasn’t super keen to pick up on that just yet as she was trying to focus on Steve in order to take in anymore information that he gave.

After watching the rest of his pack look at each other like they were waiting for the Earth to split open under their feet the Alpha took a deep subtle breath before speaking again. “There’s one more thing, and it’s really important.” He started, his gaze landing solely on Mercy, watching her reactions intensely. “All of us here have very strong opinions on suppressants. None of us want them in the pack, not even the ones you can use as lotion and wear off over time. We don’t like how they hide everything about the person from us, we’re a pack there should be no hiding, no secrets.” He paused, watching her. 

The Omega took the information in before nodding her head in understanding. She didn’t have an opinion either way. Whatever made everyone more comfortable was what she would go with. If that meant no suppressants for any reason then that was fine by her. “I think I can live with that. If the rest of you feel so strongly against it then there’s no need for them.”

“We do.” Bucky chimed in, his hands now squeezing Bruce’s shoulders lightly, grounding himself. A beat of silence coursed through the pack, everyone simply staring at Mercy, waiting. “That means you’ll have to stop taking yours, Doll.” Bucky pushed on, his voice soft yet firm.

Another beat of silence raced through the pack, and this time a very stunned Mercy spoke to cut through it. “Excuse me, can you say that again please?” She asked through her surprised confusion.

“Darling we’re not mad you’re on them.” Tony started. “Okay, well, we were when we first figured it out. But we all came to terms with it, because you were alone and being an unmated Omega completely alone is scary these days. But you have us now, you’re safe, you don’t need them anymore.”

Mercy stood up abruptly making Clint and Natasha, who were somewhat leaning on her to begin with, fall into each other with soft grunts. “Okay - I don’t - suppressants? You think I’m on suppressants? What gave you that idea?” The Omega asked, her voice slowly morphing from surprise to exasperation.

“Well first your lack of a scent.” Clint started.

“Then the fact you obviously haven’t needed to go to the Omega clinic, or asked one of us, to have you drop, or for a domming.” Steve continued.

“Okay, hold on.” Mercy said much more aggressively than intended, her tone cutting through them like a hot blade. “Just because I don’t have a scent, or need what's deemed normal for an Omega doesn’t mean I’m on suppressants. Hell, I can’t even smell when someone bakes a pie next door. I’m all sorts of broken, my Omega included - always have been. If you had brought this to me earlier then I would have explained that.”

“It’s not just that -” Bruce started cautiously, moving to stand up.

“Oh what else could you possibly add?” She snapped lightly as she looked at her Beta mate. Everyone seemed to freeze for a moment. This was new, this wasn’t something they had experienced from Mercy. They’d seen her cry, scared, anxious, happy, but never had they seen her mad, angry. Honestly, none of them thought she really could be mad, well, this mad to be exact. She was always so demure and anxious, not wanting to show too much or too little. So this was not something that any of them had expected.

“Mercy, you’re being rude, let him speak.” Steve warned sternly, being the first one to recover from the pack’s collective shock.

“When I looked at your blood work.” Bruce said hastily, putting his hands out harmlessly in front of himself. He was nervous himself, if Mercy got any more upset he’d have to leave the room. Not that he wanted to but this was not the time nor place to have the Hulk showing up. “It showed hormones consistent with an Omega who has been on suppressants for a while.”

“But I’m not - “

“Your arm.” He gestured to her right bicep. “The bump there, the one I asked about when I was doing your physical and you pointed it out, I think that’s what’s been supplying your body with suppressants. It’s like the same way birth control implants work.”

Mercy’s brow scrunched in thought. Glancing at her arm she let out a frustrated growl before using her left hand to cover the area where the implant was. “That’s what it is. It’s birth control. My mother gave it to me after my first heat.” Mercy said defensively.

"Are you completely sure that's what it is?" Clint prodded.

"You think my parents would lie to me?" She sneered.

“How about this - “ Bruce started, being sure to talk quickly so that he could get his words out without the Omega butting in. “Let me take it out and run some tests on it. Just to be on the safe side. Besides, if it is birth control it should be close to or already depleted, no use having useless plastic in your body.” He said, attempting to compromise for himself, his pack, and the heated Omega in front of him.

“I’ll just rip it out now and show you.” She hissed. It was irrational angry thinking that made her say that. She wouldn’t actually tear the thing out, she’d had enough things tear her flesh in the past, one of them was not going to be herself.

“That’s enough.” Tony declared firmly, getting up from his chair to stand in front the Omega, but kept distance between them. “Are you going to listen and cooperate or be stubborn? What’s the worst that could happen, one of us gets proven wrong?”

She looked at Tony, a snarl welling in her throat. Mercy hated being thought of as a liar. What would she gain from lying to them, her Soulmates of all people. “Fine.” She grunted stubbornly. Tearing her eyes from Tony she looked at Bruce, her lips set in a tight unhappy line. “Let’s get it over with.”

**Thursday, 6:51pm**

Mercy stepped off of the elevator when the doors opened. FRIDAY had told her the rest of her pack was waiting for her in the pack room. After she’d gone with Bruce ( and Bucky since the poor Beta felt heavily uncomfortable being alone with a steaming Omega ) and he’d taken out the implant she’d hidden away on her floor, wanting nothing to do with any of them until she knew who was right. Though she was pretty damn sure she was, she knew what was in her body.

Reaching up she adjusted the gauze bandage covering the incision Bruce had to make to get the implant out. Ugh, stitches sucked, she should know. Walking into the pack room she saw everyone sitting where they had been during their meeting, bar Bruce who was standing in the middle of the room with Steve.

“So, was I right?” Mercy questioned when she came up to the side of the couch. Her tone was neutral, but her eyes showed she was anything but. Anger and ever so slight hurt sat in her eyes. Bruce glanced at Steve, who quietly encouraged the Beta to speak with a nod of the head.

“Not.. Not quite..” Bruce said cautiously, watching as the Omega’s body tensed, out of shock, worry, or anger, he wasn’t sure. “I looked into the implant you had and.. It’s the same ones that SHIELD had found a while back on some failed HYDRA test subjects. It’s essentially a buffed up version of a suppressant, but it’s made so the person loses all traits of their rank. On top of that it makes it so normally enhanced senses, like smell, are dulled down to less than what a normal Beta can pick up. In essence.. It was used to help make the subjects less human and more.. Easily turned into a weapon.” Bruce’s voice cracked slightly and Steve instantly put his hand out to rest on the Beta’s back, helping to soothe the nervous male. 

All the colour had drained from Mercy’s face as she looked at her mate. He was kidding right? She couldn’t possibly have a HYDRA implant in her body for all of these years, her parents wouldn’t - wouldn’t do that to her, would they? Surely not. He had to be wrong. But why would he lie to her? Especially after they’d all been so careful not to bring up anything close to her parents or HYDRA after her initial reaction to Nick. For the second time in twenty four hours she was at war with herself. She wanted to believe her mates, then she didn’t. She wanted to believe in her parents, then she didn’t. It was so hard to think straight and Mercy just stood there, staring at the two men in the center of the room. Until she wasn’t, her feet somehow forcing themselves to work as she turned on her heels and made to leave the room.

“Mercy wait!” Bucky called after her.

“Mercy come back here!” Clint called a moment later. Both of them moved to stand and go after her, but Natasha planted her body in their way. “Nat - “

“Give her time.” She said softly. “I’m sure there was a lot more to this than we know. I mean, who doesn’t know their on something like suppressants? She said her mom gave it to her, we don’t know what else there is to the story. So just let her have her time. She probably needs it.”

**Thursday, 8:27pm**

_ A fifteen year old Mercy sat cross-crossed on the ground as she looked up at her Omega mother. She had just finished her first heat roughly two days ago, newly presented and excited to learn about her rank. But what the new Omega didn’t understand was why her parents were so scared suddenly. Why there was a haze of fear and worry that plagued the house ever since she had started her first heat. This should be a happy occasion right? She was taking another step towards being an adult, and she could maybe even help out more. _

_ “Mercy,” Her Omega mother started, her long mousy blonde hair framing her face as she looked down at the small teenager in front of her. “Being an Omega is nothing to be ashamed of. I mean, I am one and look at me.” The older woman said before suddenly shimmering out of what was perceptible to the human eye. _

_ Mercy laughed in response. “ _ _ Мамочка _ _ , come on! That’s an old joke by now!” _

_ A moment later the woman came back into eyesight, this time sitting with her legs tucked under herself and at the side of the teenager. Though Mercy didn’t even jump at the woman's sudden appearance and reappearance she’d seen it hundreds, if not thousands, of times. “I know. I just love hearing you laugh like that, my Golden Lily.” She said, leaning forward before wrapping her arms around her daughters shoulders. “That’s why you need to trust me on this,  _ _ детка.” _

_ Mercy looked up at her mom, worry causing her to scrunch her brows together. “Of course I trust you. Maman,  _ _ màthair,  _ _ Папочка included.” The young teenager assured. _

_ “I know, I know.” Said her Omega mother, the woman reaching out to soothe a few stray pieces of hair. “We all just want you to have a better life than we did, especially me since I know what people can do first hand.” Behind the two of them was a bit of shuffling, a female Alpha sitting on the chair behind them a small tray of tools in her hands. _

_ “ _ _ Màthair, what is all of that?” Mercy asked, craning her neck to get a better look. All she saw before her Omega mother pulled her attention back was a compression bandage and syringe, though it didn’t look like a normal one for medicine. _

_ “That’s why you need to trust us, Mercy. We don’t want you to experience what we have because of our rank, especially as an Omega. Omega’s are beautiful but so easily taken control of. We just want you safe.” The short black haired Alpha said behind them, drawing the young girl’s attention once again. _

_ She nodded. “I trust you. I do. But can I - what is it?” She asked softly. Her Omega mother and Alpha mother shared a few long looks, simply trying to figure out what was safe to say. _

_ “Birth control.” Came a deep and firm answer from off to the side where the red and grey speckled haired male Alpha stood in the doorway to the living room. “It’ll go under your skin, stay there for a long time. If you want it out before it wears off then all you have to do is go to a doctor and ask to have it taken out.” The male Alpha’s words were law in the house, being Head-Alpha and all. Even Mercy knew that to be true, what he said had to be true, he was entrusted to protect and care for them all. Walking into the room the Alpha came to the front of his daughter. Kneeling down in front of her before extending his arm. “Hand.” He ordered gently. _

_ Instantly Mercy gave him her hand, palm up. Much softer than he looked to be able to, he took the young girls hand and held it to his bicep. “Feel that?” He said, letting her small fingers trace the slightly raised skin. “That’s how yours will be. Your moms' have it to, all of them. So it’s nothing new or scary, okay?” Mercy nodded frantically, her eyes glued to the males arm. “Good, now give your Màthair your other arm and just focus on me.” He said, watching as his daughter obediently held out her arm to the other woman. Who tenderly grabbed her arm and cleaned the area were her bicep met tricep. The next moment there was a stinging pinch. _

Tears streamed down Mercy’s face as her fingers ran over the bandaged area of her arm. They lied to her. Her parents had asked her for complete trust and they had betrayed it, again. How many other things had they lied about to her over the years? She so blindly followed them as well. Even in her beginning teenage years she followed them like a lost puppy, never questioning, just doing. She was so stupid to do that. She should have had more back-bone, more confidence and independence. Reaching up she used her one hand to cover her eyes. They made her cry again, when were they going to stop stealing her tears selfishly and keeping them to themselves. 

**Monday,10:02am**

Mercy hadn’t left her bedroom since she entered it the day of Bruce telling her the truth of what really was in her body. Everyone was extremely worried for her, they all knew she was going through whatever anguish came with the knowledge. But they also knew she was coming off of the suppressants at the same time. Not only was she hurting but she wasn’t stable, explosive even. Natasha had to learn that the hard way on Saturday night. She had been the bravest one out of them all when she opened the door to Mercy’s room. The Omega having not eaten since Thursday, adding to everyone's worry about her body hurting itself due to the lack of calories.

So Natasha had pushed her way into the room with a plate of food and what she saw broke her heart. The room itself hadn’t been touched, but the bed was an absolute mess of blankets and pillows. Having not seen one the Beta couldn’t be sure, but she was sure that it was reminiscent of a nest at one point but then it had been destroyed violently. Setting down the plate on a nearby table the Beta worked her way to the Omega in question, who was curled in a corner on the bed, crying into her knees. Crawling behind her she wrapped her arms around the Omega’s torso and held her to her body, humming a soft Russian lullaby. It had helped, which was evident in the fact Mercy had rolled over and buried her face into Natasha’s neck. Just as quickly as it worked it was suddenly toxic. Mercy started to mumble ‘too much’ and ‘smothered’ and ‘everything’s wrong’ before suddenly shoving Natasha away from her. The Beta took the shove and rolled away, looking at the Omega with large eyes as she simply wailed at her to leave the room, to get out. But even through the heart breaking wails she managed to add in a please after her pleads. Natasha had never left a room so fast in her life, running into the rest of the pack as FRIDAY had alerted them to Mercy’s outburst.

“Do not disturb her.” Natasha said, her skin pale as if she had seen a ghost. The Beta was spooked, worried to the point it scared her, and that was no easy feat.

While her mates were worrying about her well being with every second that went by, Mercy was just trying to find her way through everything happening to her. The first two nights had been okay, nothing she couldn’t handle with a good amount of crying to get through the hurt. But sometime on Saturday everything seemed to change. It felt like the Earth had been taken out from under her and she was trying to figure out how to swim in molasses. Her head was filled with a thick fog that seemed to cloud everything going on. The pain she felt, the many anxious thoughts she had about being away from her mates, the way her body moved against the plush blankets. It was all dull, until Natasha had come into the room. At first the Beta’s warmth was comforting, it felt safe. Mercy felt safe and okay for the first time in days, like everything would be okay. But when she rolled over and snuggled closer into the red haired woman she was assaulted with the Beta’s scent. It was a severe shock to the Omega - she could scent her mate, for the first time she could actually scent someone. But the shock gave way to panic just as quickly as it gave way to excitement. Why was she like this? What happened? Did she break even more? Why couldn’t she just be a normal Omega like her pack wanted. After that everything seemed to turn a blurr. She had no clue she wailed at her mate so emotionally, had no idea she stayed in her room for two more days.

It was only on Monday morning when she woke up did she feel somewhat normal, like all the emotions in her just seemed to stop. Everything was at a halt inside of her, like her body simply needed a break, which it probably did. Rolling over Mercy rubbed at her eyes. Ugh, they were sore from crying and so was her throat, but she still managed to speak.

“FRIDAY,” She whispered. “What time is it?”

“Good morning Miss Wessex. It is currently ten o’ five in the morning, would you like me to inform one of your mates that you would like something to eat?” FRIDAY asked dutifully.

“No thank you.” She said quietly, sluggishly pushing herself up from the bed and standing up. She swayed on her feet and she instantly put her hands out to steady herself against the wall. Her head felt so fuzzy, like someone shoved freshly sheared sheep's wool into her head. It had to be from not drinking water for.. Wait what day was it?

“FRIDAY,” Mercy called out again. “What day is it?” She asked as she ever so slowly, and carefully, made her way to the way out of the room.

“It is Monday, Miss Wessex, you have not come out of your room since Thursday morning. I would recommend eating something along with drinking a glass of water. Would you like me to call one of your mates to assist you?”

“No, no I’m okay. Thank you.” Mercy squeaked out. God it was Monday? How had she holed herself in her room for that long. She probably looked and sounded horrible, no, her mates did not need to see her like this. Somehow she had managed to get herself out of her bedroom and out into the main part of her apartment. The sun was bright in the mostly glass room, but Mercy pushed through making a B-line for the kitchen where she grabbed a glass and filled it with water. Taking a few sips she reached out with her free hand and steadied herself where she stood. It felt like her whole body was lighter than air, and her head still felt full of wool but now with a light airy feeling. The water should make her feel better, not right away just soon, hopefully. 

With water now in hand Mercy used every available surface to get herself to the living room where she proceeded to fall onto the couch. God she felt terrible. Maybe later, once the water got into her system, she’d try and get a snack or two from the cabinets. If it was still bad then she’d have FRIDAY call one of her mates to help her. Oh - oh her mates. She treated them so rudely on Thursday. She’d been so mean as well, so angry. What a good mate she was, first day as a proper mate and she chews into all of them for simply wanting to know why she was the way she was. They had every right to want to know. Who wouldn’t want to know why their mate lacked a scent? Or why their Omega didn’t need to worry about drops, or needed dommings - whatever those were. 

It was like a brick wall had suddenly slammed itself into Mercy’s chest as she laid there, the simple thoughts of her mates making all of the numbness she had from somewhere melt away. Everything hurt again, the thoughts of her mates possibly hating her, of being mad at her, of possibly being punished for not being respectful. She was pretty sure she’d already broken a rule or two about ten minutes after they were made. Then there were her parents. What all had they lied to her about? Honestly, were they even her real parents? There were only a few photos of her here and there in the houses growing up. Was everything she ever knew a lie? Who could she trust? Was there anyone to trust?

Everything was collapsing in on her, all of her thoughts felt like they were going to eat away her soul until there was nothing left. Her arms felt like they weighed a thousand tons, but somehow she managed to force one up to her face so she could drape it over her eyes. She needed to shut everything out right now. Everything was so loud inside of her head, like a thousand small voices bouncing around in her head and that damn fuzziness it just kept getting worse, and worse. Until suddenly everything wasn’t heavy, or fuzzy, or hurting. It was just a light fluffy feeling that she wanted to curl up in until there was no more and somewhere in there she thought she heard FRIDAY’s voice. But suddenly there wasn’t anything anymore, just the serene feeling of weightlessness and comfort.

**Monday, 10:20am.**

“Sir.” FRIDAY’s voice rang inside of Tony’s lab.

“What FRIDAY, told you not to disrupt me unless it’s important.” Tony called out to the AI, his hands full as he tried to adjust a few calibrations on the upgrade he made for his repulsor canons.

“It is sir, there has been a code white in the building.” FRIDAY informed. Tony cussed loudly in response.

“Shit, haven’t had one of those in a while. Contact the Alpha or Alphas and inform them that they will be checked into. No Omega should drop like that, especially while at work. Tell them I’ll be there when the Omega comes back.” Hopefully. He didn’t add that part in but when an Omega dropped without guidance there was always a chance they couldn’t be brought back up from Omega-space.

“The Captain and Sergeant Barnes have been contacted and informed. They are on their way now.” FRIDAY responded.

Tony halted everything he was doing, glancing up to a nearby camera he knew was there. “FRIDAY,” He said cautiously. “Who and where exactly was the Omega?” To prevent anyone from harming any code white Omega Tony had made it so FRIDAY didn’t give away any information on the Omega unless it was to a documented mate or someone with high enough clearance (aka Tony himself).

“Miss Wessex has seemed to have fallen into Omega-Space exactly a minute and and twelve seconds ago - The Captain is requesting your presence in Miss - “ Before FRIDAY could actually finish what she was saying Tony ripped his hands out of the glove of his suit, barley remembering to grab a rag to wipe the grease off of his hands as he barreled his way out of the lab.

Steve and Bucky pushed into Mercy’s apartment, searching frantically for their dropped Omega. It took them all of about ten seconds to find her, limp and sprawled out on the couch. Steve managed to swallow down the whimper of fear that clawed at his throat. Bucky wasn’t as successful in his attempts to hide his concern and fear for their Omega and quickly the two Alpha’s went to her. Steve bent down, scooping up Mercy bridal style and sitting down on the couch with her carefully tucked into his body.

“We should have been more forceful with checking on her.” The Head-Alpha said, his throat tight as he held the Omega desperately to his body.

“Hey, no, we can’t be doin’ that now. Mercy needs us right now.” Bucky said softly, reaching out with his flesh hand to hold one of hers. It was just as limp and lifeless as she looked and it absolutely shattered him inside to see her like this. “Do you think she knew?.. Knew what was happenin'?..”

Steve shrugged as he looked down at the small female in his arms. “I have no clue Buck. Absolutely no clue.” He lamented remorsefully before adjusting his hold on her, making it so her head was tucked against his neck. Hoping against all odds that maybe, just maybe, his scent would help bring her back.

Behind them there was a soft  _ ding _ and multiple sets of feet on the hardwood floor could be heard. Tony came into Steve and Bucky’s sight first, the Alpha hastily taking residence in the open seat next to Steve and stealing the Omega’s unoccupied hand. Just like Steve, Tony swallowed the whine that threatened to spill from his throat. 

Clint and Natasha looked on from the side, both of their hearts lurching in their chests at the sight of Mercy. This was dangerous, they all knew that. None of them would say it, but they all knew it. That’s why it felt like all of them were suddenly scared to breathe. All of them to scared that if they broke the careful ecosystem around the Omega she might slip further and never come back.

“Can we do anything? Anything at all for her?” Clint asked quietly, but was met with three firm shakes of the head.

“No.” Tony replied, his voice full of sadness and fear. “We - We have to wait.” He struggled to say the words. He didn’t want to wait, he wanted to see those shining silver eyes again. Even if they were full of anger, hate, hurt, he wanted to see them again. They all did. Because this was their Omega, this was their last Soulmate, the one who would make everything feel complete and not like there was something missing. Through all the weeks they’d been together, being careful not to push her too far or ask too much. To make sure she was taken care of the best they could with how much she would let them and the one time she needed them most, the one time she couldn’t fix herself through crying and hiding away, all they could do was  _ wait _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things: First, I was really unsure about this chapter. I had no clue how to do that conversation part, I really hope this came out okay because this was a chapter a lot of you seemed to be really looking forward to. Second, how mad are you at me?
> 
> Мамочка - Ma-mach-ka - Mommy  
> детка - Detka - Baby  
> (French) Maman - Mah-man - Mom/mama  
> (Gaelic) màthair - Moth-air - Mother  
> Папочка - Pa-patch-ka - Daddy


	10. Life Update

Hello my little readers!

So first of all I am so very sorry for not updating and being MIA for so long. I'm not abandoning this story by any means, I still have many plans for this story.  
But alas - the world is currently not kind to those who wish for leisure time. Not only has my own life taken some unexpected turns in the last few months but I am also focusing on helping my family and loved ones during this time. 

Again, I have not abandoning this fic - not by a long shot. I have read every comment, new and old, that everyone has put and it makes me smile knowing that this has brought some enjoyment to everyone's lives, no matter how little it may have been. So, please bare with me for a little while longer while I try to sort my life out and help my family to become stable in this upside-down world. I am hoping I will have an update out within the next few months and from there even more. 

But until then, please sit back, relax, and maybe have a cup of tea in the lounge. There are many other wondrous stories to read during your wait!

Your ever faithful writer,  
DemonsWish <3


	11. Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry late Christmas!  
> So I'll be honest, I had a goal to get this out before Christmas (or at least on it) but 2020 just said no. It's here though! Finally.  
> Sadly this chapter doesn't have any huge plot advancement things happening, it's most just fluff that (in my opinion) was very much earned from the last chapter I gave you guys and gals!

**???, ???pm.**

Mercy felt like she was floating in a sea of clouds. Nothing hurt, everything felt peaceful inside and out. It had been so long since she felt like this, felt safe and calm. Ever since her parents had forced her out of the house in the middle of the night her life had been absolute chaos. Though, even when she was with her parents her life hadn’t been all lollipops and rainbows. There were many times one of her parents had bled in front of her, murdered in front of her. Even times that she herself had bled and felt the pain of her fleshing tearing apart.

None of the mattered now though because here, wherever she was, made everything go away. There was no pain from the memories, no fears or anxieties, it was just complete serenity. Nothing else mattered except for the fact she could relax and never again have to worry about whether she was going to harm someone else, or if her family was hurt, or if her mates were mad at her. She only knew them for a short amount of time, three weeks at this point, but she cared for them all deeply and never wanted to see them upset with her. Not the way they all seemed to have been when they effectively cornered her about using suppressants. They were her mates, she needed them, cared for them, wanted them with her for as long as they’d keep her.

Were they going to come see her here, wherever she was? Could they even come to her if she was here? If they could, wouldn't they already be? That thought jostled the peace that coursed through her. Mercy just got them in her life, three weeks wasn’t enough time for her and she was sure it wasn’t enough for them either. Her Betas had all been so comforting and soft with her no matter what happened. Bruce was always soft and gentle mind you, but he was always like a mother bird, caring for everyone in his own way. Clint was a bit more rough around the edges but gentle when he needed to be. He was one of the first people, along with Bruce, that she felt safe and comfortable with. Natasha hadn’t shown her softer side completely until the day at the beach house, but even before then the Beta had been welcoming and warm, if not a little intimidating as well. The Alphas too had been respectful and understanding with her. Tony had been the first one to show that when he held her the first time when she had a panic attack. Steve and Bucky, well they had gotten the brunt of her apprehension because of their closeness with HYDRA. But even with her being so distant and careful they still made her feel like she was meant to be with them, even with her lineage. 

As these ideas raced through her jumbled and fuzzy mind she felt the fluffy clouds she was resting on slowly dissipate. There was something in her that didn’t want them to leave and pull her out of her warm cocoon of safe serenity. But the other part of her, the one that wanted to be with her mates at all costs, seemed to realize she couldn’t stay here forever. Because this wasn’t where she was needed, or belonged. As those thoughts seemed to slowly become clearer and the weightless immovability worked its way out of her muscles other things started to become apparent to her.

The biggest one was the scent of the ocean that suddenly flooded her senses. It was warm and inviting and instinctively Mercy pushed into the scent, wanting more of it to flood her slowly returning brain. The more she inhaled the more small hints of other things she found underneath it, the main one being a subtle hint of forest rain. On top of that a feeling of bodily warmth raced across her skin, mainly her hands and the front of her body. It was comforting and she didn’t want it to leave her, much like the oceanic and rain scent. So she pressed harder into the warmth that was present in her hands, searching for a way to anchor it to her body.

**Monday, 4:47pm**

The past six hours had been absolute hell on everyone in the room. Bruce had joined about an hour later since he was working on time sensitive experiments, but once he was there in the apartment he didn’t move from his spot on the recliner. No one moved actually, the room had become deathly still as everyone simply waited. Because that’s all they could do for the limp Omega in their Head-Alpha’s arms, and hope for the best. Everyone of them felt guilty for what happened to her. Their Omega was as strong as she was fragile, and none of them realized that fully till now. While they were giving her space and not pushing to check on her, letting her work through the grief they all knew she felt, she was shattering right behind that couple inch thick wooden door.

“Do you think she even knew what being an Omega would actually be like? After we took her off the suppressants?” Clint asked softly a few hours in. He’d been struggling more than any of the others Beta, on par with Alphas, due to the fact he was the last person to bring her food. He felt he could have prevented this if he just opened that door, even for a second.

“I don’t know.” Bucky grunted, his eyes never leaving Mercy. 

“We’ll have to ask her if she comes back up. There’s no point in speculating what she did and didn’t know.” Tony added on, his serious expression contrasting the sadness in his tone.

“When-” Steve said sharply, his eyes briefly leaving the Omega he was gripping tightly to look at his fellow Alpha. “When she comes back up.” He said firmly, watching as Tony simply dipped his head in submission at the correction. Everyone knew Steve was taking this worse than any of them could understand. He was their Head-Alpha, it was his job to make sure everyone was cared for and protected, Alpha, Beta, and Omega a like. So having their Omega fall so deep into Omega space unguided and alone was a hard hit to his psyche.

Other than the random quiet questions from one mate or another, the room was absolutely silent. At some point Bruce had decided to turn on the TV, but muted it, simply so everyone wasn’t just sitting in the room staring at Mercy. The room's tension never dissipated, because no one knew what was going to come next. Until finally the limp Omega moved. It was such a small movement that if the three Alphas hadn’t been so focused on her, running their fingers along her arms and legs and alternating who purred, they might have missed it.  All three of them froze for a moment, thinking they had tricked themselves into seeing it, but were quickly proven wrong when Mercy shifted sluggishly pushing her face into the crook of Steve’s neck firmly. Almost immediately the Head Alpha jumped into action.

“Come on Mercy, you can do it, come back up to us. We’re here for you, come on.” Steve coaxed ever so softly, gathering the shocked attention of the three Beta’s. Each of them instantly moved from their spots to gather around the couch. It was another long few minutes that everyone seemed to forget how to breathe. Their attention solely focused on the Omega as she slowly pulled herself out of the thick muck that was Omega space.

It wasn’t until Mercy finally moved to pick up her head that everyone exhaled a huge sigh of relief in unison. While her mates were all going through waves of relief she was struggling to put things together in her mind. Namely the reason as to why her mates all had a look of grief, fear, and severe relief written on their faces. Slowly moving her arms from the hands of her other Alpha’s she set them on Steve’s chest pushing herself away from his body, to sit up, even though it was a struggle.

“Hold on, hold on.” Tony said, sitting up and putting his hands on her back, rubbing gentle circles into the muscles. “You’re not up all the way yet. Just lay against Steve for a little while longer.” He said gently, watching as Mercy didn’t even argue with him and instantly laid her body back against the large Alpha’s chest. Her body really did feel heavy, but she wanted to look at all of her mates, wanted to find the source of their distress.

Finally, after a few more minutes of waiting Mercy could feel the hazy fog that clouded her thoughts and the heaviness in her body quickly dissipating, seeping out of her skin as though it was never there to begin with. With her new found strength the Omega moved, much quicker this time, and pushed herself up so she was sitting and holding herself up. Ignoring the fact that all three Alpha’s instantly moved to put their hands on her back just in case she wasn’t strong enough to continuously hold herself up.

“What - um,” Mercy’s eyes frantically moved between the three Alphas in front of her. Each of them had a few thin streaks that were left behind from tried tears. Their eyes red rimmed and puffy. Taking one of her hands she set her fingers on one of the streaks on Steve’s face, tracing it for a few seconds before doing the same to the other two Alpha’s on either side of her. “Why were you crying?” She whispered, finding her throat to be dryer than the Sahara desert and sore as well.

“You fell into Omega space,  малышка.” Natasha spoke up behind the Omega, seeing as the three Alphas were all trying to come to terms with the fact their mate was going to be fine. Everyone watched as the concern on Mercy’s face turned into sudden confusion as her brow scrunched up.

“O-Omega space?” She echoed in question. Looking down at the couch for a moment as she tried to piece together everything in her (still slightly hazy) head. “But I didn’t - I didn’t try to do that..” Mercy whispered regretfully.

“You didn’t have to try - this time at least.” Bruce chimed in from beside Natasha. He watched as the look of confusion returned to the Omega’s face. “I can explain. If you’d like, or it can wait.” Mercy shook her head, looking to him with big pleading eyes. Instantly Bruce held his hand out to her, simply wanting her touch. While the Alpha’s had taken her sudden drop the hardest, the Betas weren’t untouched by their mate’s possible death. That’s why when Bruce took her hand into his, a loud breath of relief came from him before he smiled reassuringly. “When I took the suppressant stick out of your arm you no longer had anything holding back your Omega hormones. So they all started to come back. But unlike young Omegas who have a steady and gradual increase of those hormones, your body let them out by the truck load. Everything that should have been manageable was suddenly overwhelming and any little thing could have pushed your body into an overload.” He said, squeezing her hand comfortingly.

A moment passed where Mercy was silent, looking between her three Beta mates. “So I’m not -” She chewed on her lip, casting her gaze back down to the couch. “I’m not a broken Omega?” Mercy whispered the question as she felt hope flare up in her chest. Had it just been the suppressants that caused her to be so off all her life? If so maybe, just maybe, she could be a good enough Omega for her pack.

“Oh kitten,” Natasha said before reaching out and cupping the Omega’s cheeks gently, guiding her to look up at her. “You weren’t broken to begin with. Everyone is different, Omega, Alpha, and Betas alike. If you did have some odd biology naturally we wouldn’t have called you broken - or been upset with you. We want you for who you are, even if it isn’t what’s standard. Okay?”

Mercy simply stared up at the female Beta, a small sniffle racing through her as tears welled in her eyes. They hadn’t thought she was broken this whole time? Probably a little odd - definitely - but they hadn’t been upset with her? For the first time since she was young her Omega instincts kicked in and Mercy pressed her face into her mates hands, wanting the Beta’s physical touch to help soothe her, comfort her. 

While the red-haired woman was surprised to find Mercy searching for affection, she by no means withheld it. Cautiously she ran her thumb along the smooth and soft skin of the other woman’s cheek, simply letting herself take in the Omegas presence. She was safe, and alive.

Steve’s hoarse voice broke through the delicate silence that was formed between the two women. “Mercy,” The alpha started. Though when he heard his own voice he very quickly cleared his throat, hoping that would clear away the gravel in his tone. “How are you feeling?” He inquired.

The Omega very quickly looked towards the Alpha, who she was still sitting on. His question caused her to pause for a small moment before answering. “My head feels kinda fuzzy and light.. But it’s getting better.” Mercy’s answer earned an understanding nod from the Head-Alpha, his hand now rubbing up and down her back.

“What about physically?” Tony ushered from the side. “When was the last you ate or drank anything, Darling? When we brought the plates back up they were still pretty loaded up.” The Alpha pointed out, not unkindly or to induce anxiety in the Omega, simply as an observation.

Mercy very quickly looked down at the large Alpha’s chest, her cheeks flushing a soft red. Would they be upset with her for not caring for herself? To be fair, before she went into Omega-Space she did take a few sips of water. Not enough, she suspected, to count for much in her mates eyes. “I… I haven’t eaten anything.. B-But I did have a few sips of water.” The Omega said sheepishly, her fingers gripping at the soft fabric of Steve’s shirt.

Tony leaned forward as he watched the Omega in front of him. It was very clear she was anxious about answering, to hopefully assuage those harsh feelings he then planted a soft kiss on her head. Bringing his hand up to stroke her soft strawberry-blonde hair. “That’s alright.” He assured her. “As long as you eat and drink something soon we won't be so worried.”

Hearing those words, Natasha quickly spoke up. “How about Bruce and I go upstairs to make dinner for everyone. It’s a little early but I think everyone here needs something to eat.” Especially since the rest of the pack hadn’t eaten or drank anything themselves since this morning when the Alpha’s were alerted of Mercy's state.

“That would be great, Nat. We’ll work on bringin’ her on up while you two cook.” Bucky said appreciatively. Reaching out to capture the Beta’s hand and place a gentlemanly kiss on the back of it before the Beta’s worked to get off of the floor.

“Clint,” Natasha said, turning to the unnaturally quiet Beta. “come help us with dinner.” The female Beta held out her hand to him. 

Clint very slowly moved his eyes from the floor, where they had been glued for the past few hours even since Mercy had woken up. “Yeah.. Sure.” He said under his breath, taking Nat’s outstretched hand in his own as he pulled himself up and followed behind the two of them. With the three Beta’s now away from the couches and moving towards the elevator, the Alpha’s shared a momentary look. Hopefully Natasha would be able to talk him out of the guilt he was so obviously feeling, otherwise one of them would have to handle it. But for the time being, the still recovering Omega in front of them was their priority.

“We’re so happy to have you with us, Doll.” Bucky whispered, leaning forward to place a kiss on Mercy’s cheek before bringing his hand up to cup it.

Mercy’s brow scrunched up with confusion once again. “What do you mean? Where could I have gone?” The Omega asked with a tilt of her head, her eyes trained on Bucky.

The Alpha was mildly stunned at the Omega's lack of knowledge of Omega space. Well, it really shouldn’t be that shocking since she didn’t understand dommings either. “Well..” Bucky started a little awkwardly. “Ya see, Doll. ‘Mega’s need us Alpha’s to help them drop safely. ‘Cause sometimes you can get stuck in 'mega Space. Then - Then ya don’t come back at all.” He said softly as he watched her face contort from confusion to guilt ridden. “Mercy-”

“I-Is that why you were all so upset?” The Omega blurted out, her silver eyes wide and glossy with unshed tears. “You - You all thought I was going to die?” She asked hoarsely. Had she really put her mates through that much pain over the past - how many hours had it been since she laid down? Immediately the Omega’s eyes darted from the three Alpha’s in order to find a clock. Her search was interrupted by gentle taps on her cheek, which prompted her to look towards Tony.

“Darling, calm down.” Tony said firmly, but a tenderness was behind his words. “You didn’t know what was happening. You were also overwhelmed with everything that had happened that day. Hell, you didn’t even know what a drop was -”

“Still don’t really know.” Mercy mumbled.

“ - So how were you supposed to alert FRIDAY to get any of us?” The Alpha pointed out. With a quick look at Steve, who simply nodded to him, Tony coaxed Mercy from the Head-Alpha’s lap and into his. Where he very quickly wrapped his arms around her torso and held her to his body. “From what I, and I'm sure the other two, can tell is that you don’t know very much about being an Omega. The basic knowledge we were given when we were young is more than what you know now. So we simply need to teach you everything you need to know.” He squeezed her gently against his chest. “So we’re not mad, or upset with you for what happened. Right?” Tony looked up at the two Alphas expectantly. 

“Of course not.”

“Right.”

Hearing all three of her Alpha’s reassure her, that none of them were upset with the events that transpired made Mercy feel somewhat at ease. If they weren’t upset with the situation then maybe her Beta mates wouldn’t be upset with her either. For the first time since she had managed to pull herself from Omega-Space, Mercy turned her face into her Alpha's chest and closed her eyes. Everything about being in his arms was relaxing and peaceful. Something she didn’t know she so desperately needed to experience. One deep soothing breath very quickly reminded her that the dampening chains of her suppressants had been lifted as the pleasing smell of whiskey chased by a faint scent of oil filled her nose. Instinct told her to smother herself in the smell and so she did. That’s how she found herself very quickly nuzzling into the crook of Tony’s neck, greedily memorizing his scent while she could.

While their Omega seemed to explore her new found senses, the Alpha’s all looked to each other. At first they were stunned to see her do something so distinctively Omega (or sometimes Alpha if the roles were reversed) outside of the haze of a drop. But the surprise they felt was quickly replaced with hope for their newly fledged Omega. Maybe she wouldn’t have as hard of a time integrating into the life of a proper Omega as they had previously thought.

**Monday, 6:12pm**

“Mercy,” Bucky whispered softly, his hand running along the small woman’s back as she laid against him. Her face buried into the base of his neck and hands loosely gripping the shoulders of his shirt. “Come on, you gotta wake up.” The Alpha coaxed, continuing to rub his hand along the length of her back.

Mercy stirred ever so slightly at the sound of Bucky’s voice. She had fallen asleep a little over an hour ago, who knew having your first ever drop along with an emotionally draining event would make someone so tired, in Tony’s lap. At some point during her slumber the inventor had gotten an urgent call from Pepper that required his attention. He had attempted to push it off in favor of continuing to greedily cuddle the knocked out Omega, but one firm look from Steve told him that wouldn’t be possible this time. So he had begrudgingly handed her to Bucky before leaving the room.

“Doll.” Bucky drawled, mock impatience lacing through his tone. This time Mercy did move when she heard his voice, but only slightly as she turned her from one side to the other. A deep sigh came from the Alpha as he shook his head, a fond smile on his lips as he looked down at her. “Alright, if you don’t start gettin’ up I’m gonna have to use other means to get you to cooperate.” He said, moving his hands from her back to her sides before letting them lightly glide against the area in warning.

A whine was pulled from Mercy at the Alpha’s movements. The muscles in her abdomen and back tensing as she very quickly wiggled from side to side. “No.” Mercy pleaded groggily, moving her face once again so it was pressed into his chest.

“Yes, Doll, time for you to wake up. Everyone’s waitin’ for us upstairs.” Bucky said with a soft grin, doing his best to hold back a small chuckle that wanted to work its way from his chest at his Omega’s unwillingness to comply.

Mercy let out an exasperated huff. It was unfair of her to keep the rest of her mates waiting simply because she wanted to sleep more. “Okay..” She said softly, finally making an effort to move to sit up instead of stubbornly attempting to sleep more. Using her hands she lazily pushed her chest off of Bucky’s, now sitting up and looking around at the familiar living room setting. “Where’s Steve?” She asked as she reached her hands up to rub at her eyes.

“He had to head on up earlier” The Alpha said as he reached up to tuck a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. 

“Is everything okay?”

Bucky nodded. “Yes. Clint just got a bit more upset about ya droppin’ than the others. He felt guilty ‘cause he was the last to check up on ya. He gets feelin’ guilty about things a lot easier than the rest of us. But he’s workin’ on it, with the help of Stevey.”

Mercy nodded in understanding at her mates feelings. When she was younger and HYDRA attacked her parents she always felt terrible for not being able to help. Even with her mutations she was just too young to defend herself properly from well trained assassins. So more times than not she was sent off to hide behind a tree or a hidden cellar her father had started creating after the third or fourth attack on them. Every time her parents came back to collect her so they could move, they were always wounded. Mind you they usually healed up rather quickly within a day or two, but still, couldn’t she have helped them someway?

The encroaching memories of her parents made Mercy’s heart constrict painfully. They were the reason she had felt like she was broken all her life, was she not worthy of their trust anymore? Obviously she was since they had taken the time to write her a letter, but what kind of trust was she awarded? Was it simply selfish trust instead of parental trust? It wasn’t like Mercy would ever be able to ask - ask whether or not they still cared about her, ask if they really loved her like they always said. Because when her parents decided you were no longer allowed to see them, they made sure it stayed that way.

Unbeknownst to the Omega, a few stray tears had started to roll down her cheeks as her roaming memories clouded the present. Bucky, however, had seen them immediately as he had watched Mercy’s descent into her own thoughts. The look of lazy grogginess had slowly morphed into one of soft pain and the rich subtle scent of vanilla with cinnamon undertones had quickly become muddled with something unknown to him. Now he could very safely assume the new scent mixing with her’s was that of sadness or even pain.

“Hey,” The Alpha called out cautiously, bringing his hands up to cup her cheeks and use his fingers to wipe away the stray tears. “What’re you thinkin’ about, Doll?” He asked not to be nosy, but in hopes he could soothe the sadness she was obviously feeling.

Very quickly was Mercy taken out from her thoughts and plopped right back into reality. Her silver eyes connected immediately with Bucky’s blue ones and a soft embarrassed blush quickly bloomed across her cheeks. “I-I’m sorry..” She said quietly as she looked away.

“You’re alright.” He said, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. “You’re here with us, Doll. You’re safe, and I can promise you that the relationship you will have with us as mates will be much better than the one you’ve had with your family.”

“I know..” There was a lot more the Omega could say to him, but she very quickly remembered why she was woken up in the first place. Her mates were upstairs waiting patiently for her and Bucky to join them for dinner, she presumed. “We should head upstairs now… Since I’m awake now.” Mercy said before very carefully maneuvering off Bucky to stand.

Bucky could tell that whatever she was thinking about was something that greatly impacted her. He supposed it could be her parents seeing as that always seemed to have a great effect on her mood. But he wasn’t going to press into the matter, worried that his eagerness to help could cause the Omega more pain. “Watch your IV line.” Bucky hastily said as he watched her get up.

The reminder that she currently had a plastic needle in her hand connected to a line feeding liquid into her body through her vein was welcome as she quickly made sure it was out of the way before letting her feet hit the ground. Before she had fallen asleep earlier Bruce had come down with a solution bag and needle. Due to her not eating or drinking for a couple days straight her body’s stock was low, especially with her increased metabolism, so the Beta had quickly prepped one with the proper amount of electrolytes along with simply helping her body replenish the water it was missing. 

As Mercy worked to stand by herself, she felt her legs shake ever so slightly as she finally bared her own weight. This was the second time today she had stood up on her own, the first not having gone very well either as she had to use every available surface to keep herself from collapsing. A few moments passed with her simply standing next to the couch, waiting for her legs to stop wobbling and Bucky hovering very closely just in case her legs did buckle. Finally the Omega felt stable enough to take a step, which went successfully, and then another, and another, until the duo was standing in front of the elevator. Once they had gotten into the elevator and arrived on the pack floor, they could instantly hear the familiar voices of their mates.

“You don’t put ketchup on perfectly good salmon, Clint! You just don’t.” Tony’s outraged voice could be heard very clearly down the hall.

“Alright Mr.Billionare. You can eat your boringly seasoned salmon while I enjoy my ketchup smothered goodness.” Clint said with a smug grin as Tony groaned and shook his head. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mercy and Bucky enter the room, and a gentle smile pulled at his lips. “Glad to see your up and going, speedster.”

Mercy looked up at Clint and smiled back, glad to see that he seemed to be in a better mood than Bucky had told her he was in earlier. “I’m glad to be up and walking around too. Sitting around so long really doesn’t make you feel very well.” The Omega said as she maneuvered herself to her normal seat, Bucky tailing closely behind her until she was seated before moving to his own.

“I know how you feel. I broke my leg a while ago and couldn’t do anything by myself for a few months.” 

“How’d you break your leg?” Mercy asked inquisitively. Clints ears immediately turned a bright red and Tony snickered off to the side.

“Clint thought it was a good idea one day to challenge Peter to a roof jumping contest. Due to the fact he had a broken leg, you can probably guess who won.” Natasha chimed in as she walked into the dinning room, two plates in her hands. One she set in front of Bucky, giving the Alpha a small peck on the cheek, and the other in front of Mercy.

“Hey, it’s not my fault I lost. I didn’t think his webs were allowed, besides the roof was slippery.” The Beta pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. Everyone at the table snickered and a few of them shook their head, including Mercy.

“Is everyone here now?” Steve said from the side, making his way into the room after having changed into lounge wear for the night.

“Yes, everyone’s here so we can eat finally.” Tony said with faux exasperation. While the house rule to wait for everyone to be present for dinner to start eating was tiresome some days. It was also one of the highlights of the days when everyone was scattered around the tower or out of town for a few hours due to projects or work. Because no matter what the day held, everyone could come home to the peace and safety that was their pack.

Once Mercy saw everyone else at the table start eating, the Omega immediately grabbed for her utensils. As she looked at her plate she noticed two things; the first one being that she had a lot more vegetables and fruits on her plate than the rest of her mates, and the second being that her serving size was a bit smaller than normal. Not that she minded, Bruce probably thought these portions were better for her due to the circumstances.

About halfway into everyone eating Bucky stole Tony’s attention away from Bruce, as they were talking about some kind of technical stuff that was lost on Mercy. It was a little odd since normally Bucky wouldn’t interrupt people while they were talking at dinner, obviously not wanting to be rude. The Omega wasn’t the only one to notice all three Alpha’s now having a quiet conversation, Natasha did as well. The Beta having half a mind to nose her way into the conversation. But that thought was vetoed the moment Steve spoke up.

“Mercy,” He said, watching with amusement as the Omega stopped mid bite to shift her gaze from her food, where it had been glued ever since it was set in front of her, to the Head-Alpha. “We have a question for you.”

Mercy shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she set down her fork. All three of the Alpha’s were looking at her now, and she was unsure as to the cause for it. Had she upset them by doing something? Were they deciding to punish her for not taking care of herself while she locked herself up in her room?

“Would you be alright if we invited an Omega friend and her mates over sometime?” Steve asked, watching as the Omega showed her obvious confusion.

“Why do you need to ask me that?” Mercy asked hesitantly.

“Because,” Tony started. “We didn’t want to bring someone over without you knowing or if you weren’t comfortable just yet. You were quite jumpy for a while when we first met you.

The Omega’s face exploded with colour and she very quickly looked down at her plate of food. “T-That’s not fair… Y-you guys are the Avengers… And - and my family doesn’t have the best reputation with SHIELD agents..” Mercy stuttering, attempting to defend herself.

“Yes we know,” Steve chimed in. “But the biggest reason we’d like for them to come over is so you can talk to another Omega. If you’re comfortable with that, Sweetheart. Us three know about you Omegas and what you need because most of the time what you need requires us and also helps us. But we don’t know how it feels when you need those things, we could tell by your scent but it’ll take a while for us to get used to it. So, we were hoping that another Omega explaining things from your own perspectives would be helpful. If you'd rather only have us explain and teach you, that's completely fine as well Sweetheart."

Mercy looked at Steve, tilting her head ever so slightly. Another Omega to talk to? Sure she’d known an Omega or two from work but she’d never really  _ talked  _ to them. “Would.. Would you tell her my name then?” Mercy said hesitantly, anxiety already coursing through her about a new person. Would there really be an Omega willing to help her out by telling her the basic things she should already know? After all she was, by societal standards, a grown Omega. She should know all of this already, know how to handle it, when to handle it. Would the other Omega label her as uneducated if she asked simple questions? The last thing she wanted was for her mates to be rumored to have an unintelligent Omega.

“Doll.” Bucky said firmly. He was the closest one to her besides Clint. So grabbing her attention was easier for him than either of the other Alpha’s. “Did you hear what Steve said?”

Mercy chewed at her bottom lip nervously. She fell into her head again, usually she wasn’t this bad at over thinking but right now it was really hard not to. A thousand and one thoughts seemed to collide together in her head all at once at times and it was hard to stop them all. “N-no.. I’m sorry..” The Omega mumbled apologetically. 

The Alpha sighed softly. Mercy had been acting somewhat strange since she woke up. She had been anxious to begin with, that was painfully obvious, but the way her anxiety affected her was different now. Before she’d babble outwardly and panic, now it seemed like whatever thoughts she was having liked to stay inside her head and when it was pointed out to her she acted more like a scold puppy. Hopefully it would get better as the days went on, maybe the influx of hormones were having a heavier effect on her than they thought it would.

Natasha looked between Omega and Alpha before holding out her hand across the table. The Beta waited patiently for the other woman to accept her outstretched hand before squeezing it. “Would it make you feel better if I was with you, малышка?” The Beta offered, knowing that sometimes the Alpha’s presence was overwhelming to their still new Omega.

“Would you?” Mercy asked hopefully. “Don’t you have things to do though?”

“Don’t worry about that, I can get my work done ahead of time if it means you’ll be more comfortable.”

Mercy smiled to Natasha, relief washing through her that she wouldn’t be alone with a stranger. Maybe they’d be nicer if she were to have her  puissant  Beta by her side. “If it really isn’t going to disrupt your day then I would really appreciate it if you would be with me..”

“Of course, малышка.” Natasha said with a soft smile.

“Also, to answer your earlier question, no we would only tell them your first name. Everything else besides anything that’s just general good natured knowledge wouldn’t be given out freely.” Tony reassured her, watching as Mercy nodded in understanding.

“Okay..” She said slowly, starting to chew on her lower lip once again. “T-Then if Natasha will be with me.. That’s okay..” Maybe, just maybe, if the other Omega liked her they’d be able to be friends possibly too. Not that her mates weren’t enough for her, which they were, she was ecstatic to be able to have them in her life. But if someone was willing to give her a chance and try to be her friend, then it would make her new life just a little bit better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> малышка (Mah-Lysh-Ka) - Baby Girl
> 
> Thank you all for being so patient with me. I'm so sorry for having such a long delay between chapters. I don't think I'll be doing monthly updates like I had been doing to start with due to my own personal circumstances, but I will make it a point to have a chapter out for you guys at least once every three months. They might come earlier if I find time to write.
> 
> I hope you guys found this chapter at least acceptable! I did my best to make sure the tone for each character was the same as the other chapters ( I had to reread all the previous chapters a few times to ensure this). So, I'm sorry if they seem a little bit off from how I previously portrayed them. But I can promise that I'll get back into the groove of the story within the next few chapters, so just bare with me.
> 
> As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read my chapter and I hope you all will continue to stick with me through out this roller-coaster of a time. Stay safe!


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